It’s a warm and windy day, not the bad Vienna kind of windy day where the wind will rip your head off, it’s a slight breeze, not cold but stilling cooling and refreshing from the suns heat.Everything is silent, the streets are almost deserted, much more so then usually on Sundays. This is perfect for riding the bike to the playground, something I have wanted to do for a long time. Riding the bike with the kids. I kept finding excuses, too busy, too tired, the little one doesn’t ride a bike yet, too late to buy a child seat for the little one…
But yet here we are, the three of us on our bikes, on a lovely ride to the playground.The silence, the peace around is nice and scary at the same time but it lets you think, think of the past, dream, and hope for the future. I suddenly feel like a child again. I can’t recall the last time I spent with my thoughts and memories, acknowledging them and not drowning them with some Tweets or pushing them away because there where more important things to do or think about. Thinking of times as a kid, riding my bike with friends to go for a swim, or just to ride a bike, no other goal in mind. Not trying to be more active or lose weight, no goal in mind other than just enjoying the ride and the company. When did everything start to require a goal of some sort? Was this also business me that changed this? Or was this part of me all along?Priorities have definitely shifted during this corona crisis (I can’t hear this phrase anymore). The real important things became clearer, not that I didn’t know what was important but there was this sense of “there’s time, I can do this later”, this has now shifted into a “let’s do it right now” and not in a stressful way, not in a hurry, no obligation, just do it and enjoy the ride and also enjoy the little things that are not important.
Thinking of my own childhood, what great memories do I have? Playing with my dad in the snow, watching the reflection in the kitchen window of my mom cooking dinner, riding my first bike, riding my first bike in Austria after emigrating from Romania.
Do I remember leaving from Austria to Australia? Vague, I bet this was such an important thing for my parents, after 8 months of waiting to finally leave to Australia, I have almost zero memories of it. I remember the days playing with friends, cousins, going to the beach, going to the swimming pool, family events playing with relatives. Of course, I also remember the painful days of my mom in hospital but that’s life, pain is a part of it and there is no way to avoid it.
Even now as an adult, do I recall the day I decided to start a business or when I actually started it? Nope. Do I remember the days on holiday with my wife (or still My girlfriend at that time)? Hell yeah. So it’s time to build such memories for my kids as well. I bet my daughter has zero memory of the day she got her bike, even though it’s just a month since this happened. But going on the bike trip to the woods or the “discovery night” with her mom looking for hedgehogs? I think she will be telling this story to her kids one day.
This is nice, time with the kids is nice, mind and thoughts away from work for the whole weekend is nice, reading a book is nice, being able to spend more than 10 seconds with my own thoughts and memories without reaching for the phone is nice.
Enjoy it while it lasts, if there is one thing corona showed us, things can change real fast, like turning off a switch and it’s all gone. Going back, on the other hand, isn’t that simple anymore or maybe not possible at all.