We still don't do fear.... Right?

Ten years ago, Harley-Davidson bought a full page ad in the USA Today to try to change attitudes during the financial crisis that had befallen the country.  It was of a young man on an '08 Crossbones plastered across a red and white striped background.  Above him, written in a way that made it appear as an American flag.  The blue field held the words, "We don't do fear".  The rest of the text, written in red (of course.  All gospel is written in red) declared, "Over the last 105 years in the saddle, we've seen wars, conflicts, depression, resistance, and revolutions.  We've watched a thousands hand-wrenching pundits disappear in our rear-view mirror. But every time, this country has come out stronger than before. Because chrome and asphalt put distance between you and whatever the world can throw at you. Freedom and wind outlast hard times. And the rumble of an engine drowns out all the spin on the evening news. If 105 years have proved one thing, it;s that fear sucks and it doesn't last long.".  The capstone of the ad were the words, "Screw it, Let's Ride.".

That ad worked wonders for the MoCo.  It reengaged a distracted customer base and reminded people that our country is strong because its people are strong.  It reminded people that their mindset dictated their actions, and reactions to what was going on around them.  Our country did persevere.  And Harley-Davidson Nation indeed did say, Screw it, Let's Ride.  And they rode.

We rode all the way up to 2018 and now here we are.  Here's what else is still here.  Wars.  Conflicts.  Depression.  Resistance.  Revolution.  Along with that we are up to our noses in political polarization, our children being mowed down, scandal, hate, division....  We live in the age of instant communication, yet we rarely communicate with our fellow man on a personal level.  We believe lies and ignore truths.  We don't react to news.  We dictate news to fit our agenda.  We yell at each other and hear no one.  We think we have the answers but don't give a damn whether we actually listen to the questions.  We give credence to every outlandish theory that some stranger spews but are doubtful of the things our heart tells us.

We listen to memes instead of neighbors.  We look at our phones more than our family.  The give and take of civil discourse is now, "I'm right and F&ck you".  We are divided by who we voted for, the color of our skin, where we go to church or whether we even choose to.  We are divided by who we love and what we believe.  Bitterly divided.

I'm often left wondering if we still are our brothers keeper.  Do we have time enough in our daily lives to love?  To listen?  To live?  Are we happy with the example we set for our children or is it just easier to call the younger generation useless...soft....lazy...stupid?

What is it going to take for us to get back engaged with our lives?  What will it take for us to be happy and content with the world around us?  We will always have conflict.  We will always deal with things that depress us.  Revolution and Resistance are as American as apple pie, but how much of either are you truly getting done sitting on your ass or buried in your phone?  We NEED a revolution!  One that brings us back to why our time on this Earth is important!

I do love how the 2008 Harley-Davidson ad brought the solutions of the world and dumped them on the open road and left us with the thought that all we had to do was go and find them.  I'm also not so naive that I think a marketing slogan is going to bring us out of this National funk in which we seem to wallow.

But what if it could?  What if we truly did start to put focus on things that brought us together? 

What if we started to realize the worth of our fellow humans and the value of real interaction with them?  What if we put more time into loving each other for the things we have in common, rather than hating for our differences? 

What if we truly started treating each other as our own brothers and sisters?  What would the world look like if we got back to seeing it in person rather than through a screen?  What if we were to relearn the art of communication?

What if we were to actually be able to change the world?

I like to think that those of us who live in that small percentage of the world who ride on 2 wheels understand this.  Our passion is centered around experiences.  Real, visceral experiences. 

We seek out the beauty and danger of the world.  We understand that our time here is limited and that if we truly want to experience what God has given us here on Earth, we'd better go and get it.  When we ride, we know who our brothers and sisters are.  They ride next to us.  Our brothers and sisters are not categorized by their income, their color, their politics.  We wave at each other as we pass as if we've known each other all our lives.  We know more about them than some of our own family know about us.  We have a bond. We find the good in each other before we seek the bad.

We look out for each other.  We care about each other.  We stop on the side of the road when one of us is in need.  We come together.  We ride together.  We laugh together, and we mourn together.  We love each other, though we may not even know each others name.

Sounds a little corny, doesn't it.  Sounds like a weird little utopia, doesn't it.  The, "Yeah, but whaddabout"'s can try with all their power to say that things like I'm describing don't matter, but I firmly believe that they do.

What if everyone tried relating to each other in the manner which riders do?  What if we tried to all find common ground and love first?  What if we got off the couch, and out of the house and saw America? 

Could we change the world?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  But it damn sure beats what we are doing now.

Thomas Paine wrote, "We have it in our power to change the world over".

We who ride can start by trying to look at every piece of the world through the same goggles we wear when we ride.

Maybe the rest of you can start acting more like motorcyclists.

Ride Safe, and with Purpose.

SMB

Quit hoping and start planning.

I didn’t have time….

I ran out of time….

There just wasn’t time for that….

I couldn’t find the time….

How many of you said this for one thing or another in 2017?  How many of you missed out on experiences because you thought one of these statements were gospel?  I did.

I can apply one, a few, and sometimes all of these statements applying to something I didn’t do in 2017.  I missed out on a lot of things because of it. 

Things with my wife.  Things with my kids.  Things just for myself. 

I missed out on books that I should’ve read, and people I should’ve spent more time with.  I fell short on projects I should’ve tackled and places I should’ve visited. 

Because of this, I suffered.  My family suffered.  This blog definitely suffered.

What about you? 

I had a lot of blessings in 2017.  I got to make a cross country bike trip with my family, including my 83 year old father.  We rode from Oakland CA up the Pacific Coast Highway into Oregon to Seattle and then back across Washington State, Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and home.  It was magnificent and will be the subject of a future blog. 

I also was conspicuously cognizant that one person who wasn’t on that ride was the driving force as to why the rest of us were, and that was my big brother Dan.  The day we got home, Dan went into the hospital never to return home.  Another topic of another blog as well.

It’s January 2018.  Now is the time to “get your budget straight”.  Set yourself some goals and start making plans to achieve those goals.  What do you want to do?  Where to you want to go?  What relationships do you want to strengthen and which ones have run their course? 

Don’t find yourself in December 2018 in the same predicament that I was.  I should’ve taken that ride.  I should’ve paid that visit.  I should’ve had that conversation.  I should’ve told that person I loved them one more time. 

You are your greatest cheerleader and you are also your greatest detractor.  Make a decision to see which “You” that you are going to listen to more.  “But that ‘detractor’ in me is also the voice of reason.  It knows what I can do and what I can’t do”…  Partially true, but often that detractor in your brain thinks in terms of “all or nothing”.  That’s where the planning comes in.  You know what your responsibilities are.  You know your work schedule and your financial obligations.  So, perhaps this isn’t the year to make a 4-Corners of the USA ride.  That month off work just isn’t feasible at this stage.  I get it.  For most people, it’s not.  But if not now, when?  What would it take to be able to make that ride?  Start writing down the answers and slowly you’ll start finding the path to get there. 

Set goals.  Make plans.  Work those plans.

Let me know how you did come December.

Ride Safe, and with Purpose.

SMB