I would imagine for most people in their early twenties, in the US, with two living parents who have made a decent income, life is kinda easy. They have never known true hardships. Some may even have their own decent jobs and still enjoy the convenience and benefit of living at home; even if their parents charge rent, living at home can seem like the ultimate housing hack - who doesn’t enjoy a home cooked meal. However, though it may seem all green on this side, this much comfort can begin to breed a level of discomfort. Despite the apparent security this arrangement may grant, it only prolongs the inevitable need for a child to fall out of the nest and grapple with the unknown for himself*. The apprehension for this impending day only builds with every second spent in comfort. As a guy - idk if this applies to every guy - I can only stand so much comfort, especially knowing some day in the future will be a difficult day. I would rather expedite that process, make that day tomorrow, and barrel full force through it. Then again, I’m a weak human being, terrified of the unknown. So there’s a constant struggle between the spartan and the child within - the conqueror and the coward. Today I watched a friend of mine in a pro-level bike race. Within a couple hundred feet of the first lap, his tire blew out. As he was walking back to the start, he passed by me and said, “race is over. I flatted.” However, over the course of the next ninety seconds, I watched as his coach traded the broken wheel for a good one from another bike. Now, this race was around a closed loop course which takes about four minutes to go around. Over two minutes have already gone by, so my friend has the option to either quit, wait for the group to make a lap and treat this race as training, or get on his bike and pedal like hell to catch up. Despite being over half a lap behind, my friend said, “screw it” and pedaled off. Over the course of the next 40 minutes he slowly reigned in a herd of pro-level racers and ended up placing 4th in his category; dead last, to 4th. I cannot express in text how even witnessing that feels. The guy conquered. He took the risk, banked on his own grit, and it paid off huge. During each lap he had the entire crowd, even other teams, cheering for him, telling him the time gap, and egging him to go faster; the atmosphere was electric. People can’t help but be amazed and excited in the presence of a conqueror. Watching him do that in something as simple as a race awakened something in me which wanted the same feeling for myself. It has instilled an even greater impatience and stronger discomfort with my currently comfortable situation. We were not made to be comfortable cowards, we are conquerors - some have even said we are more.
*Disclaimer: these “Daily Thoughts” are born from the whacky chemistry going on in my brain, the brain of a guy. When I write these little things, I write them from my own perspective and use language that makes sense to me. So, please don’t get offended if there’s an over utilization of “himself” or “he” or “him” when the sentence could apply to anyone. If it does offend you, please, let me know! I’m always down for a laugh.
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