For some considerable time - two or three years - I have contemplated getting a bicycle, but "never got around to it" - mainly because there were more pressing things to spend the available money on. I have always felt that running a large car, for instance, was wasteful; which is why I have tended to have small cars except when I had a family to transport. At the moment I have a nice little green Daihatsu Sirion 1.3 litre automatic.
It happened the other day that I was talking on the Desteni Chat, and I became aware of the need to get a bicycle, to help curb pollution and cut down the use of oil; at the same time, we have been told about the impending oil crisis and likely cessation of oil supplies and various other upheavals. I decided that it would be wise to get a suitable bike and do my bit to get off oil usage (or at least cut down on it). And in my requirement to be self-honest, once I had said I would do this, it was necessary for me to act, and live my words.
Accordingly, I looked up the bike shops in town, and went "prospecting". I wanted a bike that I could fold up, so that I could easily put it in my small car, and house it in my little two-roomed unit as well, away from the weather; as the Darwin climate has torrential tropical downpours and high humidity during the Wet Season - hard on unprotected bearings and such. Which was the reason that a second-hand bike was not advised. Anyway, there were several models of the one brand of bike available, and I chose the most inexpensive, and bought a few extra necessary accessories, such as a lock, a carrier basket, helmet, basic tools. I had to put it on a credit card, but I knew that a loan to my son was due to be paid back within a week, and I took the risk that that would go through on time (and it did). Credit cards are very useful like that as cashflow managers; but I use mine with due caution and care. One has to be aware that one is supporting the banking system by using it, especially when allowing it to get out of hand and not paying it off quickly.
I hadn't ridden a bike since the 1980s; I found I was more wobbly than I used to be, owing to my body's slowing down of balancing reactions, and I also found that I need to build up my thigh muscles' endurance again; but by practicing every day if possible, I will improve these factors so that much of my shopping and other transport requirements will be done by means of the bike. I aim in due course to sell the car and then rely on public transport for bad weather or heavy loads, thus cutting down my "ecological pollution footprint" even more, and hopefully recovering some funds - though that is likely to make life as a tenant who could be shifting around more difficult. But - we have to become in harmony with Mother Earth as much as possible; of course it will need some extra effort, and that's okay.
Unfortunately I'm not in a position to have my own garden, so the packaging that much of our shopping comes in now-a-days is still unavoidable... but eventually that will pass, I expect!
What I'm doing is a small start, but its a start; and as predicted by one of my internet friends, I do enjoy being able to ride in the open air and be in better contact with Nature. Fortunately the land in Darwin is relatively flat, and anyway, I have gears.
"Have gears, will pedal"!
Since this blog is partially in aid of making myself more "self-aware" and clearing mind programs, I have noticed the following thoughts that are due to programs and need the changes that self-forgiveness assists with.
I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to be governed by money.
I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to believe and fear that I will not have enough money to live a satisfying life.
I forgive myself that I have allowed and accepted the thought that I have "yet again" wasted money, on getting a bike.
I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed the belief that I still need a car to live comfortably.
I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to entertain the fear that I will have to move around from house to house as a tenant.
I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to fear that I cannot enjoy my life without worry about the future in my "old age".
I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to subscribe to the idea of "old age" being a time of increasing limitation.
These thoughts and fears are NOT Who I Am; I am not allowing them any further. I cancel them and take my freedom from them!
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