Two Wheel Therapy

As individuals there is always something that we need outside of our normal interest or occupation, away from family life, the need to remove us from everything. Something that takes us out of the constant and places us in the pause. A reset, another world perhaps, the area between reality and dreams, that serenity or solace, the great escape.

 This doesn't just drop into your lap, you have to find it and that's not always easy. There needs to be some experimentation, the courage to test yourself and search. The courage to maybe even ask for help to find that sign that takes you down that path to find yourself and sort the mess. To make the conversion of inefficient to efficient, contaminated to pure. That place of comfort and security where you can just pull everything out you have going on deep inside and sort it through, tune the machine to balanced awesomeness.

 Whatever it may be it's critical. Because I don't care who you are, you can't do it on the fly or alone always. It will eat you from the inside out and the more you neglect the inventory, the more negative and scrambled mess you will carry and it will mutate into something that will throw a wrench into your personal gears of excellence. That excellence translates into individual awesomeness. But it's not maintenance free. A clean mind is imperative as it runs everything. Okay that was super deep, and perhaps this post may be a little over the top, but I hope the point is there.

For me usually Kung Fu works very well and I can tell when I neglect the gift. But what happens if this isn't working because I'm not running mentally efficient? I'm stuck on something that I can't let go and everything else around me sucks at the moment and I can't think anything through. When that happens I turn to my bike. I'd like you to meet my therapist Purple Death. She's been with me for almost 20 years and it's her 30th birthday this year.

When stuff goes South or my head becomes clogged and heavy, I jump on my bike and we head out to the highway. In this moment, this is where I do my best thinking. This is where my mind calms and the sorting and clarity comes through easily. I'm in my own void I guess. As I ride and think about things deeply. I listen to the roar of the engine, the mechanics of the drivetrain translating the raw power to the rear tire that rips up the asphalt. I am feeling the different temperatures, the smells of nature, the sights of nature. I am traveling just inches above the highway at high speeds, much faster than we are meant to be. There is that edge of risk that my personality needs or even craves perhaps to find that calm and clear the inventory. I'm off in another world and before I know it, I snap out of it and I have just covered several miles, corners and landscapes. Sometimes I pull off of the busy highway and just hit a secondary road and just take it all in, just putting along and it starts all over again. My bike keeps me in line to though. If I abuse her or neglect her, she will kill me or leave me stranded. It's a give and take for sure and that is the ultimate agreement. I take none of it for granted.

So what happens when I can't go out and ride? Well then I have the garage and we hang out and blast death metal. I go through every square inch of her. I can fix or replace any part of her, I get my bike like it get's me. It's critical that she looks and runs her best at all times as well. I owe her this because my bike gives and helps me so much, unconditionally. While I'm diving deep into all of this and the eye for detail is sharp, thumbing through the manuals, installing high quality parts that can take it when I ride it like I stole it, adjustments and tuning so I don't melt her heart and she runs clean....I'm  thinking about things and sorting my head out. It's just another part of the escape.

All of this takes me away from it all and by the time I finish my ride or hang out in the garage, I feel good about things. If I need more, well I just repeat the process because my bike and all of this never let's me down. There's something out there for everybody to make ourselves feel better and deal with things, that reset that's critical to our well being and mental health. That something for ourselves that let's us run in our own individual voids and fulfill the quest for reason and understanding. I hope everyone has some place to go, do what they enjoy and have that tool that makes it happen. I think right now something such as this is very important and if you don't have this type of tool, go out and find it. Ask for directions if needed, grab it and run with it, don't be shy or uncertain, the only thing stopping this quest is you. See you on the screen.