The Zen Of Cycling...

I was biking home the other night and I noticed how many people sped past me. I also noticed how many of these people were either much older or much fatter than me.

I was also in class recently and I noticed that even though I have attained quite a decent level and a decent belt at hapkido there are many people in the class who are both lower belts than me yet are much faster or quicker learners than me.

I was pondering these issues earlier today and realised these separate issues are actually the same issue and have the same twofold root.

i) I am not as competitive as I used to be. At one point I would have taken the overtaking cyclist as a personal affront to my manhood and charged past the perpetrator leaving them with nothing but the dust from my tyres while thinking something derogatory. It was the same with hapkido for a while.

ii) I enjoy hapkido far too much to actually do anything about my worries that people are better than me. In fact in terms of hapkido I enjoy the journey too much to worry about when I arrive at the destination. The same is generally true of cycling.

This could mean I have reached a point of understanding and possible spiritual maturity.

Now if I can only stop making knob jokes at any given opportunity…