Am I growing wiser with age?

Many Moons ago I resolved to grow wiser as I aged.

A year older and wiser or so goes the age-old adage.

An odd grey-hair juts out signals me "Walking into the sunset of my life?"

Another year closer to the grave eh?

Do the #wise think of #death while discussing a celebratory #occassion like #birthday?

Am I growing #wiser with #age?

Many Moons later and the pertinent Q still looms "Am I growing wiser with age?"

As I ponder over this precarious situation it threatens to blow-off my cloak of being termed a "socially-wise-person".

Introspecting, I confront the #demon that this Q has grown into.

I frantically try to rationalize an response which would make me sound "wise".

Then the #truth hits me, I like all humans born before & after me, merely struggled to make my mark (whatever that means), provide for myself, form meaningful relationships and measure #success as a mere reflection of ones possessions & earnings.

I take it, that's a VERY #shallow & #superficial way of looking AND #living #life...and I'm #guilty as charged!

Why stops us from living life "as is" - let go of past baggage, shun apprehensions of the future and to live in the present?

Our innate attachment to self. The delusional importance/self-worth - the aham bhāvam. We are so blinded & self-consumed in our life's rat-race, we fail to stop and wonder the ramification of all these actions & events that we engage in. Is this what I was born to do? Am I more than this?

I rake my brains to come up with a "meaningful" answer to my conundrum.

I try to dig deep into the recess of my labyrinthine mind.
But all I manage to come-up with is filth which has clogged & blinded our human cognitive capabilities.

Tired as my eye-lids grow heavy reducing my open eyes to a mere slit, I hear the demon's fleeting voice call out again...

...Am I growing wiser with age?

#TumbleRide

Opening scene:

THUD! Both of us sliding in the middle of a busy junction of a very busy road.

#Gazelle sneers, I grunt, we look at each other smile, pick ourselves up and limp to safety by the road-side.

Injuries drop-in to mark this event and blood trickles to prove we were after all - mere mortals!

Back-story:

#Cycling day said my weekly schedule. I start the day on a high-note. I was looking forward to showing-off my new cycling apparels. The ride goes well as I bid good-bye to my last riding buddy on the last leg of our planned route. I was pushing #Gazelle more than she could handle but she obliged. In my eagerness to set a PR I miss the dip in the road. The next min we both were sliding on the road! Thankfully most of the vehicles tailing us were far behind...given that we were racing with the wind.

A kind-couple who were pulling out of the nearby eatery's parking lot offer me some water. I wash off the blood that was now close to a trickle. I thank them. Sensing the severity of the occasion they offer to drop me home. I respectfully declined. We were hurt but not shaken nor ready to give-up. Base was 10KMs away.

I do a quick cursory check to see if Gazelle can make it. After all Gazelle had chipped her right horn but she smiled, I knew she was all fine. Badly bruised, my right shoulder, knee, ankle and leg were bleeding, but our spirits were high. We were determined to finish this trip on a high.

Lessons learnt:

I get back on the saddle and paddle while voices in-my-head reminde me of what some wise-men once said:

#Winners don't quit and #QuittersNeverWin. We #fall only to #rise back again! #Warriors wear their #scars proudly! Thanks to #angels watching over me, I walk away without any serious injury and live to tell the tale. #BeSafe #RideSafeAlways End of scene.

Tumble-ride baby #TumbleRide!