- Sensei Blue #TSDValues
I've been riding a motorcycle since I was 7 years old, and I have had a motorcycle ever since then. I ride to bring up some of those old memories, but mostly to meditate on my purpose. When I'm on the bike I think a great deal, about myself, my school, my students, my goals and how I can make each a little better.
I remember riding at my grandfather's house, on the lawn. He had a Honda 65 and a Honda 90. Then we moved from Sacremento to Redding California, and when I was 14 and 1/2 he gave me that Honda 90 and I drove it until I was 15 and 1/2, when I got a Yamaha 250. I would ride that Yamaha as fast as it would go, almost 65 miles per hour. I bought my triumph when I was 18. I sold one of my motorcycles to buy a home. Then I bought my Concourse in 2001 and I've had that ever since.
Sometimes when I'm riding and I get these great ideas. There are times that these ideas don't work out, or great ideas I have trouble remembering once I get off the motorcycle, and sometimes they are fantastic ideas I choose to put into practice. It's a time to get away from the distractions of everyday life and focus on what I choose to focus on. Sometimes it's rolling through the hills of Wisconsin, others it's the speed of a long straightaway, either way I get to escape from the routines of everyday life. One of the best parts about being on the motorcycle is the freedom. I can go left or right, fast or slow. I feel exhilaration, the joy of choosing my own path.