Motorcycles and The Laws of Physics

Alright everyone. Let me introduce you one of the most basic physics lessons that every motorbike rider knows.

• the distance between point a and point b is 100 km
• a car travelling between point a and point b has 4 tires on the road and each tire must travel that 100 km, therefore the car travels a true distance of 400km
• a motorcycle has only two tires on the road and therefore only travels a true distance of 200 km.
• Logically, if the car is travelling a true distance of 400km and the motorcycle is only travelling a true distance of 200 km, the motorcycle will arrive at point b in 1/2 the time of the car
• therefore if the 200km per hour on the motorcycle is the equivalent of 100 m per hour on the motorcycle.

Find me a real motorcycle enthusiast who doesn't agree with this physics lesson!!

So what is my point, you may ask, other than the fact that my wrist may occasionally lock up holding the throttle open while I am travelling slightly over the posted speed limit? My points are these:

•  Given all options people will tend to listen to and believe what they want to believe what they want to believe, regardless of whether or not it is the truth.
• People tend to take their information from other like minded individuals and groups because it works for them, closing themselves off from other ideas and concepts.
• People tend to offer advice based on their own perspective of the world rather than an objective perspective.

There is no shortage of people, groups, and books out there willing to tell each of us how we should live our lives, what our decision making processes should be, and even what our choices should be. More often then not it is friends and family offering this advice (and all too often unsolicited) and our natural tendency is to follow that advice. None of them mean to do any harm when they are providing you with the wisdom of their years (or lack of). They do have your well-being in consideration (or in the case of groups and books – their bank accounts). What they all fail to realize is the best advice is often no advice.
I have had the pleasure of working with many good counsellors, and even had one help me, and the one thing in common among all of them is they never tell a person what to do, what choice to make, or what they are doing right and wrong. In fact they are the most annoying people in the world because all they ever do is ask you questions. Some are easy questions. Some are difficult questions. Some are deeply probing and painful questions. But all of these questions are based on you getting advice from the person most likely to have the best, most accurate, most appropriate advice you need – YOURSELF.
No one knows the choices you need to make better than you, so seek out advice from others, but in the end, seek out the questions you need to answer, no matter how painful, and look to yourself for the answer. It's there.
Those are my thoughts as I cruise the highways on my ride letting the wind blow through my helmet (bloody helmet laws). Got to go. Think those are flashing lights behind me!!!

Contemplation, Consternation, & Confusion

I have found myself with extra time on my hands recently. That may seem odd for a person who works two jobs, but those hours in between seem to be very long hours when you don't have people or activities to fill it with. The weather has definitely not made on of my favourite activities, riding my motorbike, very enjoyable. As for people, I do have friends but it is difficult to fit their time in with my strange hours between jobs. I would love to fill my time blacksmithing but that joy has been taken from me for now. There was a time that I would have spent those empty moments writing but with the loss of all my writing I find it difficult to be motivated. I know those last comments sound bitter but I just can't understand how someone can steal someones life and livelihood just so that can have what they want. If nothing else this whole situation has taught me to hate.

That being said, I do spend much of my time thinking these days. In particular my thoughts seem to be focused on a few subjects, which on some level are all intertwined together; fear, love, and the future.

Fear is a big one. It is not a subject that would normally occupy my mind but recent events have highlighted the affects it can have on a person's life. I realize now that it wasn't simply love that kept me in an abusive relationship, but fear as well. Fear of change. Fear of loss. Fear of harm and injury. Now that I have separated myself from that situation I find myself facing a new fear – one that I have never faced before – fear of not being able to open myself to loving again.

Which brings us to the second thing on my mind – love. Those of you who have followed this blog have probably came to realize that I am not a big, tough, take on the world, kind of kind. In reality I am much more of a lover than a fighter. But each of us defines love differently.

There are a host of books out there that will try and tell you what love is, how to find it, how to develop it, and how to hold on to it. What many fail to realize is that love can only be defined by each of us individually. It doesn't affect any two individuals the way. It doesn't develop along a set time line defined by some guru. It is at times an emotion so deep it can not be defined by the person feeling it let alone by someone else. It can also be painful and torturing when it is not understood, not acknowledged or appreciated, or outright rejected and abused. This is why many have closed their lives to others. This, I fear, is where I am at. I know that without love no man can be whole, but there comes a point where it is easier, less painful, to not feel and not be whole. This is how I see my future.

Speaking of the future, how can you plan for that? I have done all that short-term, mid-term, and long-term planning stuff. I was on the path to my goals until one monkey wrench was thrown in (literally in my case). A lot of good all those plans did me – look where I am now.

Plans are just something to allow you to define what went wrong when it inevitably does. I planned to take a friend on a motorbike ride with some of my co-workers, weeks ahead, and then their plans didn't match mine. I planned on having a lovely evening out at Cavalia with a good friend – their plans changed. Plans inevitably go awry. Not always a bad thing. The young mother and her daughter who used my Cavalia tickets benefited from my plans screwing up. I know by the chocolate muffins with “thank you” in nice thick yellow icing that I received today.

I know there is a quote somewhere that refers to the “best laid plans of mice and men” that would fit here, but I am sure you get the point.

That being said, I am a creature of habit, and I can not just wing it. So what are my plans? First of all I am going to get my blacksmithing set back up. I have avoided it up to now despite being offered some smithing jobs. I have let the fear of going into debt again to re-tool hold me back. It is time for me to be moving in one direction again.

My other plans. I suppose they center around the input of a friend right now. Sometime someone elses input is need to figure things out and get you on the right track.