Wednesday, July 4, 2012

I Don't have the Time... I Don't Have the Money... If I Can't Afford It... Why Am I Doing It?

Because I can not afford NOT to!

Everyone has Customizing they'd like to do to their Motorcycles. I don't know of a rider I've talked to that doesn't have "Plans" for Great Motorcycle Roads they want to ride... Some Day... only... It just never seems to happen, Right?

How many of you have said... Some Day?...  or Maybe Next Year... How many have you heard utter the words; When I have the time... When I have the MONEY?

Next Year never comes, there's NEVER enough time, and You'll NEVER have the money...

How many do you know... who DIED... with all those "Some Days" still waiting?

Two years ago... after saying next year for Too Many Next Years... I made my first ride to Alaska. Next summer :) I'm making my Second AlCan ride... this time with a friend. In the two years since I've split the wind over some fine roads from South Dakota to California. Arizona to Idaho. Colorado to Washington... I'm as broke as ever and living a joyous life I should have started 30 years ago!

Far too much time wasted with the words "Maybe Next Year" echoing in my ears.

A couple years back without the money to do it... (a little over three weeks of "subsistence" in the bank)... we packed up and left... We just hitched up and left! We put our rig and my Yamaha on the road and never looked back. I couldn't allow the lack of money to steal any more Precious TIME away from me. Since then, one day at a time, we've found the way.

But... it's a thing you have to watch close. It's easy to fall back into old habits; "I'll do it next year"... Never next week or NOW... That thought is toxic. "Next Year" is the biggest dream Killer I know.

Find those "Next Year" promises you keep making yourself. Throw a rope and drag them suckers up close. Do It Now... as in TODAY.

I was starting to let things slip that away, making all sorts of excuses. The only cure for such rationalizing procrastination is to Force the Issue. So Force it I have.

I started doing a couple of projects in the past few weeks. A fairly major customization of my Raider... Pipes and new Saddlebags (still waiting for them to arrive!) a few other odds and ends planned... and more recently (The past few days) cleaning up and starting a rework on my tired old Motorcycle Hauling and Fifth Wheel Trailer (My Home) toting Truck.

I can't afford to take away the time from the chores of making my living ~I have a book I sorely need to finish editing and get published ; as well as several other Bread Earning projects to complete...

But those aren't what I wanted to be doing just now... I couldn't afford what I've heard others call; "the Put Offs", any longer.

So... I Just DID those things I wanted to do for ME. The time wasn't there... the money wasn't there... but screw it... THAT is what I'm doing! If YOU don't set yourself in first place once in a while... ain't nobody else gonna.

Time is the most precious thing you've got. It's not a thing you can "Bank". You can stack up your dimes so that you can sit around in your old age (if you're fortunate to live long enough for old age) and count 'em in the nursing home. Time, is a completely different matter. It's here for a split second and when it's gone... it is GONE... never to be returned.. You use it when it's here... or you LOSE it.. You can always go produce a few more dollars...

This is something I think about a lot. I believe I fear letting the life I Have Today dry up unused ~ far more than losing some possible future life. I happened across this quote that says it in as shining a way as I've heard;

"I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time." ~ Jack London

You don't have time to waste. Grab something off your Some Day Bucket list... TODAY is SOME day.

Me? I'm working quietly (so that Murphy Bastard don't gum up my scheming) to make a nice, long, SWEET ride come August. Not NEXT YEAR!

Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian

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1 comment:

John Farnsworth said...

Amen, Brother Brian! I haven't had the time, and I haven't had the money, but I've been living my dream for 43 years.

I'm in my mud and sticks summer camp at the moment, making very loose and flexible plans for fall and winter. Life is grand and seredipity is my sidekick!

Thanks for another great post, Brian. Keep 'em coming.