One thing I do know NOT to do, is think I am going to ride if I am twisted about anything going on in my head, or heart, or whatever. What I have become certain of is, is that once I am on the road and start to feel the wind in my face, it won’t be long until my perspective has shifted back to it’s rightful place. Even if I do have a lot on my mind, which is often, in knowing that this IS one of the gifts of riding, I feel a sense of peace washing over me as I gear up and start her up. Why would I want anything to take away from this absolute way to Joy that I have found.? Life has taught me that no one and no thing is worth surrendering my power to. Not the motorist who tries to edge me into oncoming traffic on a merge. Not the cager who doesn’t realize that the mirrors on the vehicle are supposed to be used to see what is around them. Not the self-involved idiot with a false sense of self importance on their cell phone. Not the highly unskilled new driver who is texting away behind the wheel or the old unskilled adult driver who is oblivious to any sense of obligation to drive with responsibility and respect for others. It is easier to let the stuff go that seems to crawl under our skin than perhaps we realize. Not everybody gets it… the spirit of mounting the steel horse. We don’t have to explain why we ride. We know why. Why let anything take away from this? Why compromise safety because of a bad mood? The second that engine turns, the signal is sounded. We are free. On the road, somebody giving me a hard time for nothing… crackin’ the throttle reminds me that FTW means a lot of things. Sometimes it does mean the obvious and other times it really means to “ Feel The Wind”. We are blessed to have found the way to embrace freedom. A freedom that cannot be taken from us, unless we give it up.