Motorcycle as an effective antidepressant

Last updated December 6th, 2023 00:10

I have always been drawn to one track since I was little. Motorcycles, the smell of gasoline, and freedom. However, I never had the courage to get a driver’s license. I loved cars, but motorcycles fascinated me. As a little boy, I would turn around and wave at everyone who passed by me. Well, it took “only” 30 years for me to come to the conclusion that it was the right time to get my driver’s license and buy one myself. And now, it has been 9 years since I started riding. And you know what? From that little boy to the grown man, nothing has changed for me in this regard. It still fascinates me.

When you want to buy a motorcycle, the first problem you encounter is fear. But paradoxically, it’s not your own fear. It’s the fear of those around you. Your parents, wife, children… Unsolicited advice comes pouring in about safety, or rather the danger of riding that machine, and almost everyone can’t resist uttering that foolish phrase that you’ll end up killing yourself. But these are statements made by people who have never ridden one. People who don’t understand. They couldn’t overcome their own fear of something that is genuinely dangerous. And now they transfer that fear onto you. It’s a phase you just have to go through. After that, it will be fine. Really.

Freedom

But the reality is slightly different. There’s no point in fooling ourselves that nothing can happen on a motorcycle. After all, I have experienced it firsthand in my surroundings, and it wasn’t long ago. Yes, it can happen. Undoubtedly. But in the same way, a car can hit you in the morning when you rush to catch a safe bus, or you can slip on wet stairs. Life itself is not a safe thing if you think about it for a while. Not at all. So, you can’t think like that.

That danger, though it is a high price, is redeemed by freedom. Let me be honest. Honestly, I don’t know anything that works as amazingly well to clear your mind as this. Problems at work or at home? A heavy head that doesn’t want to let things go? Forget about meditation. Really. Because it only takes about 5 kilometers, and it’s gone. Just like that, with a snap of a finger. Everything disappears, and suddenly it’s just here and now. The machine and you.

Yes, it’s exactly that simple, and it works exactly like that. That freedom is all around you in that moment. The open world, the sun, the wind, and a clear mind. If I had to find just one synonym, it would be antidepressants. Depression, bad mood, or problems, you simply leave them behind. You ride away from them. Because they are slow, and you are not. In that moment, you simply aren’t. And that’s what’s amazing about it.

Follow your own path

So, if someone tells you that you’ll kill yourself on a motorcycle or that it’s dangerous, I assure you that the truth is the opposite. The first statement is up to you. And if you have the same desire in your mind as I do, to switch off and be only in the present moment without any obligations, go for it. You will see for yourself that one day, maybe in a few years, you will agree with me that all the problems and worries remain behind the locked doors of an empty garage. Motorcycle as an effective antidepressant really works. And it works brilliantly. So, kickstands down and maybe someday on the road.