Peaceful

 

Song:  Peaceful

Artist:  Helen Reddy

I pedaled out to another sunset just a short while ago.

My younger sister followed me in the car...

as she had just come back from triking with my elder sister.

--------------

I am speaking from many decades of life experience.

There is a world of difference between merely existing for decades...

and from actively living life with all of its problems...

temptations...

dealing first hand with difficult people...

overcoming challenges...

and seeing people under immense stress and how the true nature 

of the human condition unmasks itself.

Again...

I am not speaking from on high.

I have made many missteps in life myself...

but, I learned from those experiences.

The concept of peace is so often misunderstood.

What too many people do is to simply put out of their minds...

all the things they should be worried about so as to feel comfortable in the here and now.

Others will attempt to medicate themselves to relieve themselves of anxiety 

for any number of reasons.

Worry is the smoke alarm.

Merely ignoring the alarm does nothing to make any changes.

Ignore the warning signs in life...

and your whole house may burn down.

An absence of anxiety does not equate to peace.

It is ignoring the warning device engineered to effect action on your part.

Positive action is actually putting out the fire...

so you will not have anything to worry about.

I see worrisome attitudes among the youth.

They attempt to numb themselves to worry to feel "peace" in the present.

Youth is the time to build your life so that your future is secure

so you may have true peace in the secure future.

This is not to say that one may not feel peace until one has secured one's future.

So long as you are walking the path to a secure future...

you may also feel true peace.

These are the only ways to have true serenity.

Anything else is an illusion you have accepted.

I cannot stress this enough...

there are only so many hours in a day...

and only so many days in life.

You must simplify life so you may maximize

the quantity of quality in it.

Once again...

never let your inner child die.

He or she is the playful and adventurous side of you.

He or she is curious and creative...

and it is he or she who loves deeply and with a pure heart.

The mature you is the one who makes life possible.

Your inner child is the one who makes life worthwhile.

If you don't have at least one creative passion in life...

one which gives you such serenity that you feel the depth of colors...

and your inner core reverberates with music...

yes...

there is something wrong.

This is something that you must work on...

for it means your inner child is asleep.

However...

this also means you have a great awakening in store for you...

and just in this...

you should be happy.

Do not be the one who tells himself that watching TV for endless hours a day...

is living life.

It isn't...

and you know it isn't.

If life is boring for you...

it means that you are boring.

If you are unhappy...

fix it.

It is never someone else's responsibility to make you happy...

it is ALWAYS your's.

To know what makes us deeply happy...

and to pursue that happiness...

is one of our most sacred of missions in life.

Doing this...

and leaving behind a legacy...

is the only way to conquer death.

We only have one shot at it...

do not waste it.

The Three Wheeled Philosopher

Triking in my Elder Sister's Neighborhood

 

Song:  World of Dreams

Group:  Future World Music

As my trike was still packed in the car from Lake Tahoe...

I decided to go on a trike ride in my elder sister's neighborhood.

As my elder sister knew her area...

she rode her trike to a spot she had gone to before where

the possibility of a good sunset could be seen.

We went up hill a bit and up into a construction zone where they were building more homes.

We reached the spot and waited for colors to emerge.

It turned out to be almost devoid of any colors on this evening...

but it was still good to go out on a little ride.

My elder sister and her husband got the same model trikes.

They have e-drive and they were very reasonably priced.

We are planning to go on some great rides in the future.

Although it is warming...

the evenings are still cool.

After the skies started to darken...

we departed for my elder sister's house.

As most of the ride home was downhill...

my elder sister really picked up the pace.

After I loaded up my trike in the car...

we both went to a nearby restaurant.

After returning to her house...

I then drove back home.

---------------

My elder sister and I frequently talk about how fortunate our lives have been.

We both retired while still relatively young...

and so...

we both love living our lives how we please.

My elder sister and her husband are living out their dreams...

as am I.

As both of my sisters have trikes...

we may get exercise while in beautiful surroundings.

Actually...

after a lifetime of being rough on my body...

I am feeling the effects of aging the most.

Even though my knees are shot...

as well as many of my other joints...

with my trike...

I can go the distance in complete comfort.

I can only compare the comfort of triking 

to pedaling from a La-Z-Boy recliner.

You get a hell of a workout...

and yet...

you are in an optimal position for full and even weight distribution...

as well as one which allows for full diaphragmatic expansion.

There is no pain...

either as I ride....

or afterwards.

I simply love triking...

it is...

in a word...

freedom.

Freedom from...

pain...

lethargy...

boredom...

and the resulting depression.

It is also the feeling you get every time you ride the trails...

freedom.

The freedom of the clouds...

of the wind...

and of the stars.

After your ride...

you feel light...

energized...

and in the flow.

Even as I continue to age...

I will always be able to trike.

Exercise is the missing component in most people's lives.

And with an e-trike...

anyone can get plenty...

no matter their fitness level.

Some may balk at the initial price of getting an e-trike

(my elder sister's model cost but $3,000...complete with e-drive).

Although mine cost considerably more...

I needed one which was especially sturdy...

as I plan to go solo on much rougher and more isolated terrain in the future.

Now consider the cost of not exercising...

of not experiencing life to the fullest...

as only those who exercise may experience life.

Also consider that with an e-trike...

it is a lifetime investment...

as you will be able to trike until the day you die.

-------

Always remember...

we all shall die.

This is not the tragedy.

It is having wasted your one and only shot at life...

by not having lived life to the fullest...

that is the tragedy.

However much you enjoy life now...

if you are not regularly exercising...

you are living nowhere near your potential for happiness.

With an e-drive recumbent trike...

no matter your present health status...

you can reach your greatest potential for fitness...

and so...

your greatest potential for happiness.

For only with exercise...

may you drain away stress...

while gaining your way to the flow...

where you may float where you had once trudged...

and where you may face the setting sun with courage and inner serenity...

and so...

welcome the evening stars with open arms.

The Three Wheeled Philosopher