Follow the...

leader or the path.

I have for the most part over the past two plus years been a solo motorcyclist, so I felt myself uncomfortable both leading and following a friend on a long ride recently. He's a more accomplished and studied motorcyclist than me so I didn't feel qualified to be out in front and was somewhat afraid of exposing my lack of riding skills from the rear.

While tailing I found myself watching him as he prepared for and then took corners. A shift of weight, a moment that seemed like a pause, and then into the turn. I tried to mimic him a bit. And that's when I found myself going into a corner, perhaps not too fast for the VFR, but too fast for me. I could see the full turn of the corner and off into the length of the road and since there was no oncoming traffic I let myself dethrottle and sweep into the left lane.

During coffee I mentioned this to my friend and he said, "that's how you follow someone right into the ditch."

So there you have it. The perfect metaphor.

I have a path to follow every day. I encounter opportunities to make a choice when a fork in the road presents itself. But no matter which I choose it is still My Path.

You know - the person in front is only a leader in the sense that the followers grant him/her. Maybe he's the fastest, or just the most reckless. Maybe he knows the route. Or maybe he's just an ass that everyone wants to keep up front where he can be watched! Maybe he won't be there for long because everyone will stop following him.

So I posit - there would be less vitriol, less rancor and anger...there would be more self fulfillment and actualization, if we all, individually, followed our respective paths (redundancy intended)instead of our arbitrary at best, bought at worst, leaders.

Comments please...