Motorcycling provides many helpful life lessons.
When you get into an accident with a car and you’re on a motorcycle, it does not matter who is at fault or who is to blame, because you’re still going to get hurt, possibly badly, or possibly killed.
When you get into an accident on a motorcycle,
it does not matter who is at fault or who is to blame,
because you’re still going to get hurt.
When you’re dead, and you’d rather be alive, blaming the car driver doesn’t really help much. You’re still dead.
The key to experiencing joy on a motorcycle is not reducing injuries; it’s avoiding an accident in the first place, regardless of who is right or wrong.
As a rider, I have a responsibility to be observant of all my surroundings – not just other vehicles, but also pedestrians, road conditions…everything. It’s my responsibility to anticipate dangers by observing other people’s actions. It’s my responsibility to identify potential dangers before they happen and to avoid being in a dangerous situation in the first place.
Sometimes it’s better to give up the right of way,
rather than claim it.
Even if the other driver is completely in the wrong, it is better for me to give up my right of way to a selfish driver and live another day, rather than claim my right of way and end up dead. Then, only my ego is bruised, not my body. Eventually, they’ll hit a radar trap.
Life is similar.
If an emotionally dangerous person’s selfish actions have the potential to hurt me, and if challenging their actions won’t make the situation better, but will more likely increase my risk of harm, then I may be better off getting out of harm’s way, rather than challenging them. That way it is only my ego that is bruised, and not worse.
When a person is in the midst of being selfish,
they are not in a listening place.
When another person is in the midst of being selfish, they are not in a place to be corrected by my challenge to them; they’re not in a listening place. So, I may be better off to give up my emotional right of way in that moment and step aside, rather than claim my emotional right of way and risk more serious emotional injury. Their selfishness will eventually catch up to them.
