And rather than enjoying the changing scenery (which is still nice) as I ride along, I find instead that Im spending most of my time "in my head" so to speak, which in truth is what Ive been doing for large portions of this trip anyway.
But this is a little different...
In these closing days of both this long ride, and effectively my little Odyssey of the last three years, I find that Im again "looking for something"... Something that "ties it all together"... And maybe makes it all make some sort of sense for me ?
Its been a long long voyage thats absorbed me for three whole years and one way and another has cost me about one hundred thousand dollars (Yep, Real spent money!... and not including lost income) Ive visited about fifteen different countries and driven my motorbike for nearly one hundred and fifty thousand kilometres.
Ive ridden on good pavement and bad, and Ive ridden plenty of places where there was no pavement at all; Through sand, mud, stone and loose gravel, on eight lane each way highways and tiny little foot trails.
Ive ridden through torrential downpours where I could barely breath for the water in the air, and Ive ridden in howling winds that I could barely keep the bike upright or on the road. Ive ridden through frozen mud and snow and through bakingly dry deserts where again, I could barely breath from the heat. Ive ridden below sea-level and at altitudes of over 5000m.
And for all that riding, Ive seen many many things too...
From grizzly bears, lynx and wolverines to sea turtles, dolphins, monkeys, penguins, and bright green lizards.
Ive seen wild Arctic tundra and beautiful white Caribbean beaches festooned with coconut palms. Ive seen tropical jungle rivers and endless desert wastes with not a single living thing as far as the eye could see. Ive stood at ground zero of a nuclear test site, seen flowing molten lava, and walked in the footsteps of Charles Darwin.
Ive seen and met many many people from grubby little kids on the roadside playing in the mud in the middle of nowhere to gun toting drug dealers in the back alleys of big cities...
Yes, Ive been a long way, Ive seen a lot of things, and met a lot of people.
But what have I got from it?
... What is the wisdom that was gotten ???
And thats what Ive been thinking about for the last few days...
As I ride steadily back toward Vancouver I can feel the trip already starting to "dissipate", as I head back to the world of daily work and taxes and income and mortgages etc...
... And I find Im looking inside again...
Seeking some singular treasure that I can "hold on to"...
Something that Ive "won" for my self with all my literal "blood sweat and tears", that Ill value in the future...
... And Yes, I believe I have something, that works for me :)
... But actually, I dont think any of you are going to like it much!...
... And so I sit me down to write...
I can see this could easily balloon into an enormous post...
Its such a "pervasive" topic and there are so many sideline explanations that Ill want to elaborate on...
But its just too big, so I'll simply state my truth and maybe do a couple of subsequent posts on topics that Ive been thinking about recently...
So, Ill try to "contain" it and hope that it makes some sort of sense :) ...
... But; Really!... I dont think your going to like it much!
You see, its such a simple and obvious and cliche thing...
... But, in the end, I dont actually care if you like it or not... Its true for me and thats enough :)))
Note here: You see what happens when we invest that much time money and effort into something... We get really attached to the results... Even if (or perhaps, especially if!) the results are just "ideas"!
OK, So here goes...
So, if I take the sum total of all my knowledge and perceptions and experiences of my life before I started this trip...
And I add to that all the new experiences and multitude of new perceptions and associated thinking and insights etc. from this trip...
And I distil it all down and I find within it all, some "core ideas" that really matter to me and capture my "Knowledge" and my "Truth"!
And I write down those ideas in a simple little list, on a single piece of paper...
And then I metaphorically take that piece of paper and I fold it into a little paper cup...
... What "Truth" would that little paper cup hold ?
Well, you can see a lot of it in my "Navigation Guidelines" post of a month or so back... And, its no mean feat to "distil" it down even further, but in the simplest of terms, it all boils down to this...
Dont "screw others over" for your own benefit !
... "Yep, hes right" I hear you thinking... "I really dont think much of it!"
But thats because it means something different to me than it means to you!... Maybe Ive distilled it too far?
I expect you reaction goes something like this:
"Of course, everyone knows that!... We all learn it as kids and we mostly live by it...
Some of us are better at it than others its true, but most people are pretty decent folks really"...
Yes, I agree, but, well, I guess it seems to me that were just not as "good" as we like to think!
It seems that whatever "troubling" topic I turn my mind to, After Ive thought about it long enough, I eventually end up back at the same conclusion... And that is that we people are not really doing a very good job of living together! And its not for inability to do it, its due to simple lack of effort... Although the "whys" of that lack of effort are many and various.
And try as I might, I always come back to that same conclusion...
The end result is that I believe that the only person that I can really change, is myself; And that that is true for everyone else too. And, the only way I can truly, effectively, bring change to others is if they "want" to change themselves as a result of interacting with me... And that mostly comes back to one of my core beliefs that "I should lead by example!"
So then, If I truly believe that, (and I do) Then how can I change myself to have a positive effect on whatever "problem" Im currently thinking about? Answer is simple, I have to truly espouse the changes that I think are good for others and then respect that others may or may not want to change too...
Believe me, Id rather not... It will be very "Inconvenient" !
I dont think that people are gonna thank me... I dont think others will believe the things I believe... Itd certainly be far easier to go about my life as a more or less "fine upstanding pillar of the community" that I otherwise am, and lead my normal life as an average person doing what we all do in more or less the same way everyone else does...
Yes, Itd be nice to keep behaving just like pretty much everyone else.. Very "Convenient" indeed!... But, I just cant do it any more... Cos Ive thought about it and I SEE the consequences...
So, now I have to try to be "nice" just like mum and dad tried to tell me to be, but now its for real!...Bummer, cos I had my sights set on becoming a "Grumpy old man"!... And I just about had it down too! :))And everyone else is gonna keep just "pretending" to be nice (which is how it seems things really are) and so they are all gonna keep trying to "screw me over" (Well everyone really;...Rarely specifically ME) one way and another, and I have to resist that but not do it in return...
Not gonna be easy I dare say!
I know... Im sounding like some sort of righteous religious freak or something! But its not like Im saying it because Im religious or something like that... God doesnt come into it at all!... Its just plain rational thinking... An unavoidable conclusion!
But, in the end, it is a selfish choice (Just like everyone else in the long run :) ) The simple fact is that I will feel better if I try to live as a better person... Its time to grow up!
So, Here it is again for anyone who is interested...
Dont "screw others over" for your own benefit !...... And that, is the wisdom that was gotten!
Now I just have to do my best to live by it... And Im sure Ill fail regularly cos Im just a person like everyone else and we make mistakes... But Im really gonna be trying to do better anyway...
Wish me luck ! :)))
