Well, this rant isn't all about atgatt... It's a convoluted and fuzzy rambling about... surety and how the foolish quest for that, ruins the life that IS surely here.
There's but one thing that's for sure and for certain in this life... Death.
I am weary to the bone of all the people droning on and on and on about do this safe or that safe... BE SAFE!
Ahhhhh... I wouldn't pay a nickle for a pound of Safe... I'm weary of that anemic idea because it's all mostly baloney built on a base of unrealistic fear in the first place.
No matter how much care you take, how religiously you eat your vegetables, no matter how skilled the Doctor or how well your preacher has the ear of God... You my friend... are going to Die.
As long as I can remember I've been propagandized with the idea, in one form or another, to always turn away at risk. Avoid it like the plague. Only foolish people take risks. Risk takers are some sort of whack job.
The reality is, nothing happens without RISK. Adventure is RISK. Excitement can't happen... without RISK.
The reality is, that psychotic, trained in fear of all the things that could go wrong... is surrendering to cowardice under the color of reasonable care.
Life is a dreary and grey place... absent of RISK.
Now... listen up... I'm saying RISK... not STUPIDITY. Accepting Risk doesn't mean ignoring common sense. It means weighing the benefits, playing the odds and having confidence in your abilities...
OF course... if you believe you can outrun that grizzly after you poke that ugly basket thief in the butt with your sharp stick... I've got my video camera warmed up and focused...
***a bit of a sideline*** just to say it... the base source of this malicious idea of "safety" is our "Leadership". The leaders of Society don't want excited, adventurous spirits taking risks. They want obedient, quiet, productive serfs laboring in safe and reasonable pursuits. (adventurous people are difficult to control) They want those laboring, fearful masses working for them... so THEY the leadership can go out and adventure, sky dive, climb mountains, TAKE RISKS and enjoy LIFE while the rest of us support them***
I've allowed too much of my life to be stolen by that never ending droning about all the dangers of this life and their avoidance; this toxin, that seat belt, red meat, safe sex, crap in the water, crap n the air, speeding, drinking, smoking, running with a fork in your hand, bucking horses, saving money, mercury fillings, genetically modified food, cancer from your cell phone, flu shots, colon cancer, calm down you'll get a heart attack... blah blah blah...
Ugh... I Vow... more people have died from the worry piled on 'em about what might could kill 'em... than from any of those multitude of options that in the end don't matter... 'cause in the end we all end up in the same place...
... The belly of a worm burping and rubbing his stomach; "Damn! That was one good Biker!"
But even worse; While you sit around waiting to die... because once all the risks are seen and avoided... there isn't a hell of a lot left to do but read a book about Somebody Foolish Going out and LIVING... while YOU wait for the worm ... LIFE passes you by.
The thing is this... take bit of care here and there. Don't be stupid... unless stupidity wiggles your bean. If straddling your bike geared up like a science fiction warrior is what captures your imagination... do that.
If putting it in the wind bare headed and bikini clad is your thing... do that.
Just own it. Accept the consequences of your Choice... and don't judge others for theirs. (or, think you have the right to judge... or impose YOUR values)
The thing is... live while there's living to be done. Live a Class A life while you're living.
Would you rather live one GREAT 30 year movie? or... sit through the agony of 67 years of the worst, dullest, most agonizingly moronic home movies kodak ever created? Think about it...
Grab Your Handles and Ride
Brian
... Splitting the wind on a Motorcycle... Feeding my soul with the Healing power of the Open Road... following that twisting, Ribbon of Highway that leads me on...
4 comments:
Well said. We have become so risk-averse as a society (I blame the lawyers and the disinfectant marketers, in that order)that we are slowly stifling all the fun out of LIVING!
I like to say "the minute you are born you start to die, it just takes some people longer than others." People don't generally like to hear that, but I am a realist.
I do think life involves risk. But we all have to analyze what risks we are willing to take and minimize the rest.
It seems society would like to sanitize life, but where is the fun in that?
The term ATGATT is a misnomer because there's no possible way to wear ALL the gear. Just when you think you're wearing everything, there's always a string of flashing lights you could've strapped on to yourself, and there's always a group of "I told you so's" ready to blame you for not taking safety seriously enough.
So it's been my opinion that safety is a matter of the ends justifying the means. As long as you're alive and riding, you've done a sufficient job.
Brian:
I think as you get older you realize the difference between existing and living. It gets harder every year with more rules and regulations in an effort of Governments to protect ourselves from ourself. It's not easy to become a non-conformist in todays world
bob
Riding the Wet Coast
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