There Is Nothing To Hold Us Back...
Pru and I have seen parts of the island today that we have not seen before...
The drive to Acharavi was our first adventure! The views as we travelled from one side of the island to the other, were spectacular... In some places the road was very very narrow, and at one point, we rounded a bend, and a big car was coming straight towards us! In that moment I forgot which side of the road I was meant to be on...
'Ju, you're on the left' Pru exclaimed...! Fortunately we were exactly at a viewing post, so I turned into it immediately. It might even have looked to an onlooker like it was what I had intended to do!
It served to demonstrate to me how deeply our habits are ingrained within us... At the moment of stress, I immediately returned to what I knew.
It is why we can never be too conscious, and how important it is too take notice all the time, and to be present in every moment... I clearly went into my memory in that moment!
I went back to what is ingrained in me...
This is what often happens under stress... And the stress can be anything, from getting tense in a car, to someone 'upsetting us' with what they are saying or doing... It is whatever triggers us to tense up...
The moment we are tense, we are not in the present anymore.... And when we are not in the present, our memory kicks in, and often does not serve us well!
Especially if we are driving in Greece where they drive on the right - and my memory when I tensed up took me to the left...!
However - we did arrive at S bikes on the dot of 9.30, our ETA.
We were greeted warmly by George our guide for the day, and Stamatis who is the owner...
We sat over coffee and orange juice with Stamatis, planning our route. We said that we didn't mind where we went, that we wanted to have fun, to stop for lunch and to be able to decide as we went along, how far we would go!
And so we set off.....
The roads were quiet, the air was clear and warm, the stillness was still, we cycled in a line... George has a lovely calm energy and at one point Pru said, 'I am so happy....' We meandered through villages getting ready for the season... Painting, scraping, opening shutters....
And on the trees blossoms, white, pink purple are blooming - poppies and speedwell, little yellow flowers along the roadside...
We reached 'Seventh Heaven' a bar on top of the cliffs - it too is getting ready for the season, but the owner found the key of the loo for me!
We looked out over the sea, high high high up.... The waves crashing on the rocks below.
We were in seventh heaven...
And then.... It started to get hilly!
But the long up hill, rewarded us with a descent all the way to Arillas... Anadi and I had journeyed here in September to catch up with our friends Jalal and Ajara...
Pru, George and I walked out on a stone promontory with the sea splashing us, as it swirled and danced below on the rocks. 'Anadi would want to jump into this' I said to Pru!
We made our way back up the hill out of Arillas, to a very welcome lunch, where George entertained us with stories of five days of stress last October, when taking big groups of Royal Marines on cycling tours...!
We rode on after lunch, and after about another 7k of riding we were all cruising down a long wide smooth Tarmac road, the wind was blowing hard and George instructed us to tuck down, so that we became aerodynamic...
I was a way behind George and Pru, as downhills are not my most favourite place to be!
Suddenly..... There was no road.
George told us afterwards that in Greece there are some arguments between the people who are making the stretch of road smooth, and the people paying them... It seems the people paying are not paying..... And so in protest the people making the road are leaving stretches of the road unmade up ....
George thought this bit of road would be finished by now.... But it wasn't... And instead of riding along on smooth sleek road, we were on a chalky, dusty, rocky, stony, gravelly track....
I was immediately experiencing my worst fear...
Out of control, downhill - on a bike - on a stony surface which would not be pleasant to fall on!
Meanwhile Pru was not enjoying things much either....
Pru and George had disappeared into a cloud of white chalky dust.... I could tell Pru wasn't happy as I saw her try to put her feet down to stop herself, then suddenly she disappeared off the road to the right and vanished....
I went hurtling past, out of control... I had stopped using the brakes, as every time I did the bike skidded, and it felt better to be somehow riding my steed in a straight ish line...
George had stopped to go to rescue Pru, and as I bumped past him I shouted 'help'!
He was very calming, he simply said ' gently gently' which was all that I needed...
I was strangely relaxed, so much so that I have no memory of how I actually came to a standstill....
I got off my bike and made my way back to 'the scene of the accident...' As I was walking along I found myself involuntarily saying over and over the ho oponopono clearing chant, 'I love you, I'm sorry, forgive me, thank you.'
I could see George lifting the bike off Pru who was lying in the rocky ditch... As I got nearer he was hauling her to her feet and she was smiling!
When I reached her, she was shaking all over and she had blood flowing from a cut on her hand, but very soon - after a hug and when we we sitting together on a stone bollard - we started to laugh about the adventure....
I waited an appropriate length of time to say....
'Wow Pru, this'll be a great story for the blog!'
Stamatis drove out to rescue us, he administered first aid to Pru, and drove us back to 'base camp' for more coffee and orange juice, before the intrepid two set off for home again across the island....
We had a wonderful day, George was a lovely, kind and gentle guide... And he and Stamatis looked after us so well...
As we journeyed home Pru and I explored how we had both had quite dramatic falls within a couple of months of each other, on 
stony ground, which could have resulted in serious injury....But didn't!
It seems we have both cleared the part within us that can 'pull the plug' on our forward progress, and now having shaken that out of our being...
There is nothing to hold us back...!
