Never Say Never

File this under things I think about when I'm biking (or running or listening to music or doing nothing in particular):

The expression - "Never say Never" - has tripped me up a few times in my life. Sometimes for the good, sometimes for the not so good. But I think I'm getting wiser as the years go by. That is, I'm learning to never say never. Or at least when I do, I catch myself and try to rephrase.

Because often, you see, "never" isn't really never. As proof of my theory, here is a smattering of things I've said "never" to that really weren't never:

• I'll never drive a minivan - I've been driving one for 8 years now. Despite adding a few personal touches (as those who have seen it know), the fact remains that I still drive a minivan.
  
• I'll never get a dog - We've had a great golden retriever named Cassi in our family for the past 6+ years. Despite a very scary close call at age 9 with an unleashed, poorly trained attack dog, I actually agreed to get a dog and now go so far as to describe myself as a "dog person".
  
• I'll never go back to work full time until my kids go to college - My three year anniversary of full time employment was two days ago.
  
• I'll never be a morning person - Here's evidence to the contrary.
• I'll never be able to bike 100 miles in one day - More evidence to the contrary.
  
• I'll never eat sushi - One of my favorite restaurants is Sushi Inaka.
  
• I'll never be friends with my ex-boyfriend - I now consider him one of my oldest friends.
  
• I'll never understand statistics - I can now explain the difference between R squared and R squared adjusted in the unlikely event that anyone is interested.
• I'll never listen to KISS 108 - Not by choice, but this is one unfortunate reality of having 12 year old daughter.
  

These are the some of the nevers I'll admit to publicly that have taught me to never say never. Of course, there is a whole host of nevers that I'll never admit to here. Wait, let me rephase that...