What is holding us back to our full potential? Fear. Don’t
get me wrong, fear does have its benefits. When old mate gets eaten by a wolf
because he gets too close to mums pup, there is a use for fear. Falling off of
a balcony may add to your caution around heights. These are what we have
adopted to ensure survival, and some of these genes get wiped out; natural
selection at its finest. Everything has become much simpler now. In suburbia
you don’t have to worry about a wolf who forgot to pack a lunch waiting for the
morning metro but there is a different kind of monster one must watch for. This
is the power of our imagination. One thing we believe separates humans from all
other creatures is that we can create multiple realities from one simple idea.
They may very well be plausible realities, but you can’t tell unless you have
first-hand experience. Now while this may seem very beneficial it does tend to
backfire. I can’t count how many times on all of my fingers and toes my mind
got in the way of what my heart really wanted. Wanting to go traveling but
being constantly afraid by all the horrors a “3rd world country” has
in store. From dengue to dysentery, it can be quite easily avoided. Just don’t
lick your flip-flop. The media has control over the masses with newspapers,
advertisements, television, etc. so if one hasn’t educated oneself, they may be
brainwashed with ideas of all the ways to die in Guatemala. New experiences =
new opportunities = new ideas to develop in your mind brain.
We can learn safety measures without having to seriously
compromise our wants and needs. How many of these fears are actually useful?
Not many. We don’t say what we want to say because of the fear of the unknown.
“The only regrets we will have on the death bed are the things we didn’t do.” While there may be another life after this
one, time shouldn’t be wasted worrying about consequences of all your actions. This
is no ticket for hurting others, but remember you can’t make decisions for
people, only suggestions.
I’ve worked my way down to Daman, where the beer flows like
Niagra and is tax free. A little beach town in its own little state (like Goa
and Delhi). Old Consuelo has had a few minor problems in the past couple of
weeks, all of which seem to be easily fixed. Had a flat on the way to Ahmedabad
with Ilona from Aus, but the tire wasn’t as deflated as the company. We waited
around for 15 minutes at a rest stop with a chai and pani until a few very
helpful lads decided that they could lend us a hand (they just needed to clear
out all the “not possible” from their systems). Popped off the tire, borrowed a
bike to the next town and was back on the road in 30 minutes. The luggage rack
has been supporting 3 persons bags, so needed a bit of welding after hitting
some of India’s many carefully hidden potholes. The riding has been much like
being in the world’s largest street race where some people join in at random,
snaking through the cars and trucks on the best road yet in India. Seriously
though, I could maintain a steady speed for more than 2 minutes at a time.
