My bike’s tires were in need of a change. I usually replace innertubes at the same time. I had no issues with installing the new tires, but both new innertubes plus the spare would each not hold air. So that’s three brand new innertubes that had leaky valves.

It was very frustrating as I was looking to get out to ride later that day and over the weekend. My extra wheelset was being serviced, so that wasn’t an option. I talked to the online bike shop I like to use and they put more tubes in the mail to me. The local shop I like to use was a 30-minute drive across town and I wasn’t up for that drive in traffic. I wrote off the weekend for riding and my schedule opened up.

The negative with this situation was that I would not be able to get out for the specific exercise that I look forward to almost daily. The positive was that I got a much-needed break from riding for a few days. I was also around the house and office for several key conversations that I would have otherwise missed as I would have been riding at that time.

Turning negatives into positives is easy to talk about (when life gives you lemons, make lemonade), but harder to pull off. You have to make the transition from one state of mind to the other. You have to quickly move past what was and into what could be. Operating in this world of potential is where the power of transformation lies.