I just reread my last post and the responses it generated… and that put me to thinking more about all this self-induced stress stuff. Why is it we’re never completely satisfied with our present circumstance? Why do we exalt one day at something new and different, then become bored with it in practically no time at all? Is that good or bad…? Or, is it that it just is?
It’s like when we worked at regular jobs, and our bosses praised us for ‘above and beyond’ performance… then raised the bar on us! Yep, what had been laudatory one year became the minimum expected level the next! It seems they could never be satisfied, and we were forced to recognize there was no end to that vicious cycle; so, we had to adjust our own aim and expenditure of energy and effort… We were forced to jettison the notion we were ‘super heroes’ at the pinnacle of our job… and we would never be there, either…
In that scenario, it is impossible to achieve an acceptable level of accomplishment forever, when the expectation is always automatically increased ad infinitum… Is there not a theoretical ceiling somewhere…? Or, will ‘My Pillow’ continuously be 'improved', because it can never be perfected? I’m not slamming bosses here; rather, I’m acknowledging a basic fact of life.
We are like that ourselves, for whatever reason(s), and it is something with which I wrestle daily. How do I keep what I do new and refreshing? It is important that whatever we pursue always have ‘luster’… If a carrot ever turns into a turd, it ceases to serve as an motivator!
I first stumbled upon this concept back when I was a lineman (now called line technician) for the telephone company. I loved that job! I was young and at my physical peak, and that was the ‘macho’ part of our business. I reveled in it! I soon figured out, however, that it was not especially intellectually challenging, mostly it was just manual labor. If I was to continue, and I did want to at the time, I would need to find ‘new carrots’ to keep myself energized and enthused… I did…
A few years later, I came across some motivational tapes by Earl Nightingale… and one of those was titled, ‘Don’t lose the luster’. His basic premise was just what I’m talking about here… Armed with that knowledge and personal experience, I entered upon this new direction in life with a leg-up on the learning curve. I still consciously seek ways to keep myself enthused and inspired to keep following ALI’s front wheel… and so far, so good!
Another lesson I’m still learning is that we need to forgive ourselves for being human. We’re not perfect, and we never will be. Part of coping with that is adjusting expectations, yet keeping them realistic. We do need to be careful not to relax our expectations too much, though… lest apathy and lethargy set in… Finding the precise fulcrum point is a worthwhile pursuit!
Last Fall I was visiting in Montgomery; and, as is my custom, I met with my good riding bud, Jim Dorman, for breakfast… I’d been back on the road a little over a year by then, so he asked me how I was doing… I told him truthfully that I’d just finished the best year of my entire life! He was pleased to hear that, because he’d wondered if ‘returning’ might have produced a let-down or disappointment… It most definitely has not!
Since then, I’ve continued to wander and wonder… indeed, I’m doing that as I write this. I stayed over another night in Uvalde, TX, simply because I didn’t want to ride on Christmas Day… So many places are closed on that special day, and it just seems a bit risky to venture too far off into the hinterland on a nineteen-year old bike with 585K miles on the clock…
Hubcaps... near Victoria, TX.
Texas 'Brush Country' south and southwest of San Antonio
Cabin fever plus a need for excitement and activity had caused us to depart Ocala, FL, last week. The weather forecast held out the prospect of much nastiness to come, but there was the tiniest of windows available… if we got lucky and stayed with the apparent openings… we did… We also got a little wet, too, a couple of times, but that was expected… knowing there was an end to it and a payoff to follow kept the wheels turning and enthusiasm level high!
A couple of long days in the saddle found us in Winnie, TX… and just across the street from Al-T’s. I kept that room for two nights because of rain due to engulf us soon. Had I followed the dire predictions of TWC, I would have already been nearing completion of ark-building and lining-up animal pairs for boarding! The rain did come, so TWC was vindicated… technically speaking, I suppose… It arrived around 10:30pm the second night we were there! Oh well, it did afford an opportunity to leave a couple of brain cells strewn about of the barroom floor… again… No dancing this time, however…
I’m not especially hard to please, I don’t think, but I do like things a certain way… For example, I much prefer motel rooms with downstairs, park-at-the-door rooms! ALI is pretty much loaded to the gunnels with travel stuff, so loading and unloading her has become a rather laborious twice-daily chore. Having to carry stuff up stairs and down corridors is a complication I much prefer to avoid!
I also like to land in a place with food, refreshment, and adventure potential nearby… This has become increasingly rarer as tastes of the traveling public have continued to evolve and change, so some things I just have to accept and overcome… Whenever I do stumble upon a ‘good scenario’, however, I do make a mental note for future reference…
Since our arrival in Winnie, there has been no further super-slab travel to amount to anything! We’d needed to bear-down and bite-the-bullet in order to hit the weather window available, but that is now behind us, mercifully! Two-lane riding for the most part, but an occasional four-lane road here and there… All good, though! We’ve managed to further reduce the bug population, although only the most stalwart and arguably suicidal of insects are even out this time of year… Do they know something I don’t?
No plans for any destinations or anything, as usual… Just cruising around… seeking luster!
DDT
