![\"ccs-62657-0-05151500-1432800740.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-62657-0-05151500-1432800740.jpg\")
<\/a>Simon Ekin.<\/span>\n<\/div>\nStay with me now. I am not saying what he did was okay, I am saying that we get angry, judgemental and resentful towards people\u2019s behaviour that reminds us of a part of ourselves, otherwise we wouldn\u2019t notice it. In this case, the lying, the cheating and the stealing. It\u2019s said that if you \u2018spot it you\u2019ve got it.\u2019<\/p>\n
I am a cyclist. I love it. It is my self-expression, my freedom. I tend to do more pottering these days than serious riding. I tend to savour the open spaces and the solitude; something I learned when I cycled from Cape Town to England. That was back in the nineties.<\/p>\n
But I notice that something happens for me when I get on a bike, something good and\u2026something bad. Let me tell you about the bad: I become a bully; I become self-righteous, I cut in front of people and I shoot red robots for the fun of it because – I tell myself – that the rules don\u2019t apply to me.<\/p>\n
I mean, come on, I have just been up a hill, I\u2019m now speeding down hill – I\u2019ve earned it \u2013 I have the wind at my back and the wind through my hair. I approach a red robot. Why should I stop now? I deserve it! I\u2019m not driving a car for heaven\u2019s sake! I remember a driver coming alongside me and winding down his window, shouting, \u201cThe law applies to you too, you know!\u201d I told him to mind his business, but of course he was right.<\/p>\n
But how is that behaviour different to Lance Armstrong? We are both breaking the law aren\u2019t we? \u201cAh, come on,\u201d I hear you say, \u201cit\u2019s different, what he did was way more serious.\u201d Sure, but weren\u2019t we still both breaking the law? Why is what I did less severe than what he did? We have laws so that our society works, so that people are protected. When I shoot through a robot and someone else has the same idea and hits me, what then? Never mind me, what about my family? The other driver? His family?<\/p>\n
<\/a>Cycling in the mud of Congo on a trip from Cape Town to England.<\/span><\/div>\nNow the really interesting part about all this is that I have stopped doing this to test my theory that if I stick to the law, honour my word, keep my promises then I can have a very different experience of life. I see and sense that if I do it, then I am making more of an impact than trying to fix, change and sort others out. I would go so far as to say that something miraculous starts to happen \u2013 I start to have the experience of a world that works; of order, of power, of integrity. This only works if I am willing to take responsibility for my part in our part; never mind what others do or don\u2019t do.<\/p>\n
I have noticed that I am less righteous, more relaxed and more present to the joy of the ride. It\u2019s not that I don\u2019t break the law at all, but I am much more aware when I do, and that makes a difference. It gives me a choice in the matter.
So, here\u2019s my invitation:<\/p>\n
Try just for a week sticking to the law and see how it feels and trust that by doing so, you are creating a shift in the world. I\u2019m not only talking about doing it on your bicycle!<\/p>\n
Try setting yourself a goal of 3-5 key things you are going to do each day and do them (you might want to apply a bit of a stretch if you are someone who does this naturally; get out of your comfort zone.) Most of us don\u2019t set any goals or intentions at all and wonder why we don\u2019t achieve the results we know we can.<\/p>\n
When you catch yourself being judgemental towards others, ask yourself what part of their behaviour reminds you of yours: if you spot it, you have got it.<\/p>\n
So, next time you catch yourself doing stuff that doesn\u2019t work, try asking yourself, \u201cand you?\u201d It takes great courage, responsibility and awareness to do this and if you want to live in a world that works, it\u2019s a great place to start. As Gandhi said, \u201cbe the change you want to see in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/a>\n<\/div>\nSimon Ekin is a publisher, author, speaker and teacher on the subject of courage. His book, The Art of Courage, was published this year. His work focuses on helping sales people to overcome their fear of rejection and failure in pursuit of producing outstanding results and increased performance. You can buy his book here: www.crokerpublishing.com<\/a> the hard copy is R220 and the e-book is R140.\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Do you remember first hearing about Lance Armstrong? Do you remember what you felt? The shock, the anger, the betrayal? Consider for a moment if you will, that the only reason you felt that was because his behaviour reminded you too much of yourself. Simon Ekin. Stay with me now. I am not saying what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":47868,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[472,3916,806,3971],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-19929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-doping","tag-lance-armstrong","tag-opinion","tag-simon-ekin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19929"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=19929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}