Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Just Me... the Bike... and the Road

In the dust that surrounds the life of a person trying to reach for something higher... there's a confusion that's been trained in since birth.

Much of the confusion is a diversion that's centered around Things. Those are what is used to focus your attention so that you don't see the world swiping your life.

But, most of the "Things" in this world carry a questionable value. They weigh a man down.

Smartphones, laptops, GPS's, Camera's, Credit Cards, Gizmo's that track every inch of your travels... furniture, crap on the walls, Tools you never use, clothes you never wear. Junk that you pay to store. It lays stored in dusty boxes that haven't been opened in years. Bills, commitments... people pulling, pushing, poking, prodding you to go where you're told... where you don't want to go... cursing and bullying if you refuse... the list itself could fill a saddlebag...

... Things... Yech. The urge to just swing a leg over the saddle and ride off from it... is hard to resist.

On top of that pile of Things... are the people. The two are often inexorably combined. One uses the other as tools of control. One is USED by the system to use and herd the other as a tool of ITS control. It gets kind of tangled... but if you're awake... you can cut through that dust cloud... you can sort it all out and find your way.

But beware and understand... Go in with your eyes open. You won't get through it unmarked. If you choose to make a stand, If you choose to fight against the wind for Your Life... You are triggering a shit storm like none you've ever seen.

My escape from all that storm is my ride. Out there on that ribbon that stretches to the horizon, there's only one soul that can control that motorcycle. The stupid games and deceitful machinations of the morons behind me... fade away. There is just the heat and the rumble under me, the sun on my face and the fresh wind in my nostrils.

I ride for me. Yes... It IS all about me. This isn't "Your" life I'm fighting my way through, it is MINE.

I have no right to judge your life, and I don't, other than to decide if your way suits me. If following your lead is the way I want to go... and I won't tolerate my life being judged in any manner other than that.

I don't put my hands on other people. I don't manipulate, make false promises or intend to deceive. Perfection I am far from. Failure I know often. But when I do fail I own it. I correct it and I work to only make new mistakes, not repeat the old.

I have found that Honor and wisdom do not come from those who have led pristine lives. Those who are most honorable are generally those who failed that ideal some time past, and NEVER want to feel that way again. They don't judge others, only themselves.

But judging is what this world and most of those around you do first thing... isn't it. I don't say that as a question, but as a statement. They judge and then they set about herding you in the direction they "Know" is for your own good. Irrespective of how wrong, arrogant and improper their self serving actions are.

"You Owe Me"... is a deliberately abused epithet thrown like a spear to skewer the heart of a person who still holds to tenets of Honor, Integrity and Respect. It's their best qualities turned on them like a weapon.

I've paid my debts. I owe no one... except for those few, rare friends that have given to me, as I have given to them... with zero thoughts of reward or compensation. To them I owe Honor, Integrity, Respect. They earned it. For the rest... there are no words.

That makes me a selfish bastard to many. So be it. I'll wear that coat. I AM a selfish bastard. Does that make the accusers feel better? Who cares? Those people are incomplete. They are missing critical pieces... by choice.

I choose to put my nose in the wind, let it blow the dust of incomplete snivelers off my leathers... and ride... Just me... the Bike... and the Road.

~ Brian

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Brian:

I don't consider you selfish for doing what you want but I also feel a responsibility to family and good friends.

While I don't like to attend gatherings, which take up valuable weekend time, I try to go to them as a courtesy, same with friends when they have BBQs or go out to dinner. There are certain obligations a person has to do, IMHO.

That being said if I have spent months planning something and I get invited at the last moment, then I continue with my plans

Hope this makes sense. Other than that I am slowly evolving to your mindset but I will go out of my way to meet people, even if it involves changing my plans a bit

bob
Riding the Wet Coast

Brian said...

Bob; I know I come off sounding like I'm mad at the world sometimes... and sometimes I am! ;) Mostly I'm a split personality. To those that earn it I'm as loyal as a dog. To those that earn it I'm as nasty as a mother-in-law.

For a "Friend" I give it all. For those that misuse, I give my back.

The thing is...Maybe my biggest "Hot Button"... remember that line of George Burns, near the end of the Movie "Oh God" ?

It was to the affect; I put everything you needed here for you to have a good life. ALL you have to do is be good to each other and enjoy life.

THAT is my issue really. I've grown weary and intolerant of deliberately abusive, people. The sort that say anything, do anything to get what they want, without a care for the hurt they inflict.

Everyone gets the benefit of the doubt up front. They are assumed good and decent until they demonstrate themselves to be otherwise... Finding good people is a joy. It just saddens me that sometimes they seem to be increasingly rare in a world gone mad.

Responsibility to family and "Good" friends is IT. IT is THE thing. Agreed. The rest, get what they earn. Though, I have family that ALSO gets what it earns ;)

Trobairitz said...

Very well said.

People are quick to judge and figure they know what is right for you.

We get judged all the time. Not only for being motorcyclists, but vegan, and also for choosing not to have children. It is like a triple whammy and we seem fit into society like a square peg in a round hole most times. We are good with that. It is who we are. Would be nice if the world was as comfortable with it.

Ride your own ride, in life and on two wheels.

And I would be inclined to agree with you on being loyal to those that earned my respect and reciprocate. Most others I have no cause to have in my life.

Unknown said...

Brian:

Finally, I have met someone who has the same values as me, only I couldn't find the right words.

I can be the most loyal person to those that I care about and that treat me right and have the same values but once I start doubting their actions, I discard them. It's like having good friends and the others are merely people you know. And of course as you said, everyone gets the benefit "up front"

A good friend would get the shirt off my back, or my last dollar and in times of need I would be there for them

bob
Riding the Wet Coast

Sash Johnson said...

Aaaahhhh, Brian. Once again, you're singing my song. . .

I have a daughter who won't read my blogs. Not ANY of them. My only child, who is also a writer, but refuses to acknowledge my life now, as it "offends" her. She wants me to grow up and be the "Martha Stewart-Donna-Reed-Carol-Brady-Mom" that raised her.

What she doesn't realize, or refuses to acknowledge, is that I put the Real Me away for that little girl so I could raise her properly. Sash is not really a very good mom, but Tina was. And I'm proud to say I put my child first until she was 20.

Now, I come first and my hubs comes second. Fortunately I chose a hubs who loves this life as much as I do, who needed the road the way I did. I won't live for another person ever again.

It's none of my business what anyone else thinks of me and I refuse to give them any free rent in my head. I'm busy riding. Fuck off.

Hugs and many smooches,
Sash
www.SashMouth.com