"Don't forget to ride your motorcycle."
"Don't forget to RIDE YOUR MOTORCYCLE."
The thought entered my mind several times a day with firmness and clarity. It was frequently unexpected, and it got my attention. Several times I found myself mouthing the words out loud.
What made it unexpected is that I was already riding my motorcycle when I heard it. In fact, that was the only thing I was doing. It was the summer of 2019, and I was riding from sea to shining sea by myself on my Harley Davidson for twelve days.
The phrase showed up in every imaginable scenario. Whether it was the awe-inspiring mountains of northwest Wyoming, the flooded fields of Missouri, the gridlocked traffic of Atlanta, or the straight-line monotony of a midwestern highway (I'm looking at you, Nebraska), it would pop into my head as a sobering reminder that no matter how boring or exciting the scenery, or how interesting the podcast, or how light the traffic or steep the hill or sharp the curve -- there is one thing I must never forget: that I was on a two-wheeled machine going fast over hard surfaces, and that if I lost sight of that, I could lose my life. It was a moment of clarity that refocused me on the simplicity of man and machine, and forced me to return to the essential, core basics of what I was doing.
Fast forward to the uncertainty of today.
We are inundated with frightening news stories, wild stock market swings, panicked buying and foreboding forecasts. Life as we know it is changing, and sometimes it feels like we're doing too much and sometimes it feels like we're doing too little. We might feel the monotony of staying at home in one moment, the panic of "what if" in the next, and the pride of witnessing awe-inspiring acts by our fellow humans in the next. We are riding through uncharted scenery, and that means we can become quickly and insidiously distracted from the core basics of what we're doing. We can get caught up in all the things we can't control and forget to do the basic things we can control. When that happens, it only adds to the cycle of helplessness because we're not getting traction on anything anymore. We need a reminder.
What is the one thing you mustn't forget? What is your "[wo]man and machine" moment? What is the phrase that you need to remind yourself of frequently and forcefully? When we are tempted to get caught up in the news cycle or fan the flames of fear, we may need a personal reminder, and it may vary depending on your role: Don't forget to -- parent the children... protect my health... serve my neighbor... reinforce my faith... meet customer needs... breathe and remain calm... and so on. It's the answer to: "If I don't get this right, little else matters."
Sometimes we just need to boil it all down to our essential must-do and put one foot in front of the other. Become aware of when distractions and swirl are competing for mind share, and then clearly and forcefully remind ourselves what our "one thing" job is. And then do it.
What is it for you?