I rode my bike to work today.

It was not easy. Over 11 miles and a few wrong turns, but it was all part of the Bike Commute Challenge going on this month. Our office has a team and I added my miles to the team’s total.

In order to give that small contribution I needed to create a disruption in my commuting habits. Thrusting those disruptions into our lives create opportunities to give more.

Sadly, other disruptions are out of our control.

Recently, Borders Bookstores went out of business. It was an institution that succumbed to recession and a changing book world. For many people, Borders was an escape on a rainy day. It was a place to search for that perfect gift. It was a place to expand your horizons. The store’s closing was a disruption in the lives of book lovers.

After taking a picture of our Borders, I rode my bike towards a pub where I was going to meet my wife. The Riverwood Pub is one of the McMenamin brothers’ unique restaurants here in the Portland metro area. The Riverwood is special because it has a great atmosphere and a wonderful deck along Fanno Creek. You can sip a beer as you listen to the sound of the creek meander by.

But as I approached, my wife shouted out to me. She was sitting with her back against the cement wall along the path.

“It’s closed,” she said with a dejected expression.

“What’s closed. The Riverwood?” I asked incredulously. She nodded.

Together we walked my bike back to the front of the pub. We stared in the windows of the now empty restaurant for a few minutes. It was hard to imagine this little pub closing. It was part of a successful franchise which had never closed a restaurant. We would not be sipping that beer together tonight while listening to the creek.

Disruptions are difficult when they are forced upon us. Disruptions are representative of the change that is all around us. That change never goes away. It is one of the constants in life. Accepting disruptions allows us to move on.

While I will be sad that Borders closed it’s doors and that the Riverwood Pub is no more, I was not sad that I disrupted my own routine to ride my bike for our office team. It let me give a little more.

Changing our giving habits requires creating disruptions, and accepting disruptions that we cannot control.

Gave a bike ride for our office, a few less CO2 particles to the atmosphere, and a couple of last looks at local institutions.