The Ride of a Lifetime

We are at a crossroads.  We are at a serious divide in our Humanity.  We are at the precipice between goodness and hatred.  This separation is real and is not simply my imagination.  The entire world is splitting apart, with very little variation in between the fractured separation.  Light and dark, up or down, cold or hot, rich or poor, the good vs the evil.  

We have the anarchist, the progressives, the liberals, we have the conservatives, the law abiding and the constitutionalist all vying for power, and all vying for control, neither it seems able to reach the other sides with any sustainable progress or understanding. Based on current world demonstrations and similar events in the US one would think that the entire world has gone insane.

There is hope as I have recently discovered.  Yesterday morning I went with my family to the beach in Oceanside California.  It was a beautiful clear day.  The temperature hovered around a perfect 71 degrees with a slight breeze coming from the ocean.  

We rented four bikes to ride over the San Luis Rey Trail, for me and my age, it was a perfect outing.  As we slowly rode our beach cruisers over this picturesque trail we passed many others doing exactly the same.  I didn’t take the opportunity to talk to many, and most were more concerned with their individual fitness goals to even look our way but in the process of riding we passed others that were riding, never concerning ourselves with the politics of the day.  

I have no idea who was a Trump supporter or who was not, who among them were Democrats or Republicans.  There were many with high end, expensive bikes and many with marginal rides, like the ones we rented.  There were those who were obviously struggling financially, using the bike trail and their own bikes as their sole means of transportation, leading me to believe (without evidence) that our commonality was based on our desire to use that pathway.

Along the path we passed a small airport that was shuttling jumpers that were descended in horrifying speed to a final stalled and spectacular landing.  We road passed the flowing San Luis Rey River with it’s protected green area filled with trees and birds of all kinds.   But it wasn’t the beauty of the area, it was the people, we were all engaged, preoccupied and moving toward a destination.  Our goals were different, our purposes different and our outcomes were different but in the process we all agreed.

We may not have known that we agreed or even considered there was an issue but as we rode  our little bikes and enjoyed the area we were actually one; leading me to the conclusion that their is a way to work together, evan under the most extreme conditions.  

There were no riots, no altercations, even when there was cause.  My daughter had an accident while riding, she crossed the line into the path of oncoming bike traffic and collided with another rider.  I stopped, the other father stopped, I apologized, my daughter held back her tears, the young man she collided with was mostly unhurt and we all went our way.  NO riot, NO name calling, NO blame, just understanding and a bit of compassion over the incident.

I know this is a simplistic look at what life could be, but it is what life could be if we all realize our commonality and our desire for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  Even though those words are ensconced in our Constitution's Preamble they are a universal promise to all and a guide to all that when we work together we can truly accomplish great things.  

I also know that there are times when people must rise up to rebalance the imbalance imposed by governments and leaders but in that process, We the People should never forget, We Are the People and it is We who should work together by finding our commonality and strength.  It is ours to mold and either strengthen or destroy.  

Outside forces, manipulate our life’s journey and disrupt our ability to enjoy our ride, with our families. We the People should never be saddled with a pre-ponderous levels of external manipulation, nor an over abundance of internal emotions, like hate, or anger that disrupt our ability to see and think clearly.  We are the People, let’s act like it and regain our lives, our freedoms and our liberties.