A new look at risk
I’m finding these days that I avoid all kinds of unnecessary risks
with the interests of more important things in mind. Including kids.
I suppose having a kid brought me around a bit, but I
was thinking about ‘what a waste it would be’ long before that.
I’ve even stopped my endless roadtripping. I’m kind of a dud
these days, I admit it. I even stay away from bars mostly.
But actually I’m still a trendsetter. I’m reviving hats
and playing the piano at home, along with singing standards.
Fun in the daytime and productive dawn to dusk.
I enjoy everything around me and don’t ask for much more.
(Am I fortunate that my yard looks like a park or is it perhaps
a natural outcome of staying home more? Both! Luck goes to
those who work in that direction. Pick your direction carefully!
Do you want luck in crashing or luck in beautiful surroundings?)
I try to make sure my activities are directly related to
the question: Is it worth dying over? Earning a living and
being out and about in simple fresh air qualify easily. Even my local
riding around here, which is done mainly for errands and basic health
and exposure of good innovative cycling to the public,
would qualify. I doubt that any quick thrill done for its own
sake would. Fun is not ‘the good life.’ Cautious with the body,
bold with the life. That’s the ticket. There’s big things still
a-brewin’ and they ain’t kidstuff. Sport was training for the
real game and I had to leave it behind.
I found that in my hardest racing
years that I was often in ill-health, semi-injured and not fit for a very
wide variety of activity. An ugly slave state. No more!
Not that I stick to it all the time, but it’s a goal.
