RE: [ST] selfish?

[Lisa Borgfeld White <wlb@xxxxxxx>]

Selfish . . . That is not often a word that crosses my mind about my riding, but I do not have kids other than the furry kind, and I am very lucky to have a husband who introduced me to riding.  I now I love it more than he does, if that?s possible.

Still, Eric?s very untimely death and this thread has caused me to examine my thoughts and feelings on this subject.  I believe in what Vicki said and loved how she said it.  Life itself is a risk.  The only certainty is that you are born dying.  It?s what you do between birth and death that matters.

I have chosen to live my life as fully as I can.  I have my own personal risk level, as does each of us, and from what I can tell, mine is much higher than that of my parents and siblings, and most of my other relatives.  As such, I get all sorts of comments from them about my riding, most of which I choose to ignore, but it is hard to ignore them all.  I can
tell you that I wish each and every one of my relatives could, just once, enjoy the feeling of riding North Carolina, the Texas Hill Country, the Million Dollar Highway in Colorado, the roads of the Western Cape of South
Africa, Texas World Speedway during a California Superbike School class, or simply our little "forest road" that is a favorite weekend riding location.  From my perspective, they do not have a clue as to what they are missing, and it is so wonderful that I cannot find the words to adequately explain it to them.

Concerning the selfishness, the inordinately large number of car wrecks I saw this weekend put that into perspective.  Life can just as easily be taken away when you?re on four wheels, yet no one would call you selfish for taking a Sunday DRIVE in the country.  By doing that, aren?t you taking a risk you do not have to take? Is that selfish? What about driving
a sports car versus a large SUV?  What about taking a job that pays less money so that you and your family are just "squeaking by" because you are happy at that job, which makes you a happy person, versus
taking the one you qualify for, at which you would make more money, but at which you would be miserable?  Do any of these make you selfish?

There are so many quality of live issues here that transcend the "selfishness" label.  Still, what I think is "quality" may be different from what you think is quality.  I firmly believe, however, that no matter what "quality" means for each of us, it is the quality that counts, not the quantity.  If something were to happen to me tomorrow, I don?t want my last
thought to be "I wish I would have done ?that?. . . . " I don?t want ANY regrets . . . .  And right now, I don?t have any . . . .

Lisa
Houston, TX
?99 Tornado Red Sprint ST


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