100 Pedals

Recovery for Parents Dealing with Addiction in their Families

## The Freedom of An Empowered Life

February 25, 2025 by Dave Cooke 8 Comments

“To be driven by our appetites alone is slavery, while to obey a law that we have imposed on ourselves is freedom.” ~ Rousseau, The Social Contract

Much of what I have written about in the past has been commitment based. Commitment is what keeps us moving in the directions we desire for our lives. The intensity of that commitment defines the pace at which we maintain momentum in that direction.

Commitment alone will not assure the success we desire. We also need the clarity of our purpose and of our vision to help define the direction of our actions. It is in our clarity that the intensity of our commitment is defined and the direction of our actions is focused.

I bring this quote into the conversation to help understand the difference between desires and will. Many of us desire, or want, many things in our lives. Some of these thoughts are active, conscious and others are passive, almost subconscious. Many people often think about those things they desire or want. And, they use these desires to define their future goals, behaviors, and activities.

To be driven by our appetites alone is slavery. The reason so many people struggle with goals is that they are solely dependent upon a clearly defined outcome and a series of tightly defined actions to get there. This satisfies the appetite for an accomplishment. Unfortunately, the burden of the task of getting to the outcome drains the energy of the opportunity and the joy of the challenge. Objectifying our dreams in this manner is counterproductive to achieving the results we truly seek in our lives. As long as we seek to pursue an defined, measurable outcome as the only measure of our accomplishments, we miss out on the most important component of the challenge – the opportunity to learn from, celebrate, and enjoy the lessons from the experience along the way. In our fixation on the prize, we miss out on all the wonderful experiences in the process of getting there, to the point that we might even miss out on a more significant experience than the victory lap upon our arrival at our defined finish line.

Obeying a law we have imposed on ourselves is freedom. Think about the power that comes with taking control of some aspect of your life – better health, stronger relationships, spiritual responsibility, etc. When we define our lives by who we are and the rules we live by, we are in complete control of the outcomes and the related results. There is more freedom in celebrating our personal empowerment and responsibility than anything else we do. We do not need to win, cross the finish line, complete that acquisition, or clear that hurdle to enjoy or celebrate our lives now. We simply need to enjoy and embrace that which comes from living the commitments we have made in our life and understand why we made them.

In contrast to having a clearly defined goal, the opportunity to celebrate an accomplishment comes the day you decide the rules for your life and the inspiration driving those rules. Once you define how you will live your life, you begin to enjoy the freedom and the joy that comes with that decision. Instead of being burdened by a series of tasks associated with systematically achieving a long range goal, the person who has empowered themselves to live under a new set of guidelines immediately celebrates the changes they have instantly created in their life.

Empower yourself to create and embrace the change you desire in your life. The freedom that comes from this mindset is more powerful than any burdensome goal based, task driven challenge.

Filed Under: Focusing On Your Vision, Inspirational Perspectives, Live With Passion, Living Your Purpose Tagged With: empowering ourselves, empowerment, freedom, freeing ourselves, goal setting, goals, Rousseau, setting goals, the empowered life, The Social Contract

## The Best Source of Energy

February 18, 2025 by Dave Cooke 2 Comments

“We are at our creative best when we let go of our fears, our failings, and our worries and embrace that inner peace that comes from tuning out all that worrisome chatter.”

Thought is a wonderful, powerful tool. Unfortunately, too much thought is a negative influence that slows progress. Moderating the influences of your thoughts on your ability to act is where magic happens.

At times, this is not easy. Many of us have this need to understand, plan, think it through, and organize our thoughts.

Our fear of failure, the need to quantify risk, the desire for affirmation of an idea, and the assurance of success all slows progress more than it supports it.

While we are busy planning, organizing, thinking, measuring, calculating, confirming, or sharing we could be taking positive forward steps in the direction our desires and thoughts are taking us.

Your mind is constantly working. Your subconscious mind never takes a break. Long after you have stopped thinking about something, your brain is still working on it. It is only when there is an external trigger stimulating a conscious thought are you aware you had been thinking about it at all.

So what’s with all the extra thinking? Fear! Worry! Lack of confidence!

Next time you get an idea, trust yourself and your mind. You got this idea for a reason. Instead of trying to calculate why or measure the immediate risk factors before taking action, embrace and pursue opportunity in the idea.

Take action. Move in that direction. Create and celebrate the energy that comes from being in action to develop the idea to make it real and spend less time thinking, planning, and organizing yourself around it.

What’s the difference? One mindset starts out with “this is what I am doing…” and the other says “this is what I am thinking about doing.” When you declare your action, your commitment, and your vision you are moving. When you declare your thought process you are stuck in thought.

Next time, put yourself in action. You will find more energy and opportunity in moving forward than you will in wondering, worrying, and evaluating all the risks, challenges, and concerns of any venture. You will also learn just as much, if not more, by taking action. And, you will be farther along because you got moving sooner.

Embrace action — it is the best teacher and the most enjoyable experience!

Filed Under: Celebrating Accomplishment, Inspirational Perspectives, Make A Commitment, Seizing Opportunity Tagged With: action, being in action, embracing adventure, embracing the journey, embracing the unknown, engaging in action, enjoying the journey, taking action

## Seeing the Finish Line

February 11, 2026 by Dave Cooke Leave a Comment

Bringing the finish line into in your mind long before you get started is what drives you through the adversities you will likely face along the way.

Not everyone loves a physical challenge. Yet, I am certain everyone likes a good challenge — a puzzle, a word game, a new recipe, even an intelligent debate. There is a different level of energy engaging in an activity that tests our mind, our bodies or both. I am pretty confident most people enjoy activities that stimulate, challenge, or test them.If you are like me, you probably love a good physical challenge. I enjoy testing, pushing, and extending myself to tackle a daunting physical task. Taking myself to a new level that tests my limits is big part of my life.

Almost no one relishes the challenges associated with life’s adversities. We usually don’t register or sign-up to get fired, become seriously ill, or struggle with a relationship problem. These challenges are rarely fun or enjoyable. And, they often aren’t easily solved or managed in a day or two.

Both types of challenges have two striking similarities. While testing and challenging us, we have a tremendous opportunity to learn from them. And, envisioning ourselves at the end of the finish line — real or imagined — is what keeps us moving forward.

When caught up in the storm of our unplanned, less desired adversity our instinctive response is survival. The task at hand is to simply get through the day and figure out what to do next to solve or deal with the problem. The survival instinct is deeply embedded in our own human nature.

Getting to the finish line in any situation requires some visual understanding or expectation to what the finish line looks like. Imagine the finish line. Imagine yourself feeling and celebrating the experience of crossing that finish line. Imagine the excitement, the joy, and the satisfaction of arriving at that celebratory place. When you bring your finish line into focus, your ability to push, persevere, and keep moving is greatly enhanced.

Today’s struggles take time, energy, effort and determination. Sometimes finding the strength to put one foot in front of the other is very difficult. When you know what success and accomplishment looks and feels like — taking those steps and making that effort has purpose. Create a vision of your celebration and you will get there!

Filed Under: Celebrating Accomplishment, Focusing On Your Vision, Maintaining Focus, Make A Commitment, Managing Adversity Tagged With: creating a vision, crossing the finish line, dealing with adversity, dealing with conflict, dealing with obstacles, embracing your vision, focusing on your vision, perseverance, visioning your success

## Get After It!

February 4, 2026 by Dave Cooke Leave a Comment

Pursuit of your dreams requires consistent, focused effort! Every day that you don’t is another day that you haven’t. Every day that you haven’t interrupts progress.

My dream and my mission is the 100PedalsRide - a 4500 mile, 100 day, 14 city bike ride where I will be speaking to young adults across the country about the opportunities to make powerful choices in their lives.

Even though I got hit by a car in December, while riding by bike, I will not let this incident interrupt my plans. Despite a totaled bicycle and a broken wrist, I am still training and still working the dream.

Adversity is what life throws at you. The intensity of your commitment through any adversity is what defines the outcomes of your dreams. You have to keep moving. When you stop, you concede all momentum and progress.

Chasing a dream requires that we stay on task and do something every single day in pursuit of that outcome. It doesn’t require hours of activity every day; but, it requires a focused commitment to the outcome.

Nothing is more boring, mind or butt numbing than sixty to ninety minutes on a trainer on the back porch every day. This week I will go past 700 miles on that trainer. After that, I do something else — planning, recruiting, fund raising, etc — to keep the 100PedalsRide moving.

This is my dream. This is my commitment. And, this is my challenge. If I submit to adversities of time, health, inspiration, or other perceived priorities, I am interrupting the progress of my dream. My focus and my commitment are so clear that I simply will not allow that to happen.

When you take that challenge remember — get after it every day and stay after it every day and you will get there!!

Filed Under: Focusing On Your Vision, Inspirational Perspectives, Maintaining Focus, Make A Commitment Tagged With: celebrating progress, celebrating success, dealing with adversity, honoring commitments, honoring the challenge, honoring your commitments, living your commitment, maintaining momentum, maintaining progress, managing adversity, staying committed, taking the challenge, The 100Day Challenge