Like in the Dakar

When racing the Dakar Rally you never know what route you will be taking the next day, you may have an idea, but just a slight one. In our daily lives we wake up in the morning and start our normal activities. We then leave home to work or travel, etc, but we don’t know what comes next, what we will be experiencing that day or the following, like in the Dakar. In the Dakar Rally, the drivers have just a slim idea of the terrain they will be traversing but cannot know in advance what kind of obstacles lie ahead and how difficult things may get. They must be fast but careful, be wise and persevere when difficulties abound; they may have to stop and repair their vehicles, but also not give in, and seek help from the other participants if they want to keep going. Crews are given a road-book everyday, with indications of the windings of the road, obstacles, timings, GPS, etc. All that is a like a map to follow, but the map is not the territory, so they must be extremely careful and intelligent to be able to reach the chequered flag that day, the next and the following… Similarly, we plan our lives in a certain way, but the roads we take go twisting that aim constantly. We sometimes encounter huge ‘dunes’ to overtake, some seem insurmountable, but with patience and dedication, intelligence and heart we can always circumvent or climb them altogether, like in the Dakar. Our road-book is ready for us every single day, but we must be willing to ‘see’ it (“Those who have eyes to see…”), read it and follow it. But beware, simply following our road-book is not like being on auto-pilot; we must use eyes, ears, intuition, wisdom, body, heart and soul to follow it. We must root ourselves in the terrain itself, be part but not attached to it, feel it, enjoy it, listen to its heartbeats, like in the Dakar. In that way we will be guided to the finish line unscathed, otherwise we shall suffer all sorts of difficulties, penuries, defeats, deceptions. However, by starting all over, repairing, learning from our experiences, incorporating, ingraining them in our souls not to make the same mistakes again, we can overcome them, like in the Dakar. With resolution and control of our desires and senses we will be driving our own life through the deserts, the mud lands, the forests, the mountains; we will cross the rivers and oceans, entire continents, and even jump into space. But nothing of this is possible if our drive is selfish. It will only take us ever so far from the chequered flag, unless we are prepared to help and lend a loving hand to all those who are alongside us, maybe suffering the same difficulties or worse. Only with camaraderie, solidarity and love, shall we reach our destination, the real one, like in the Dakar. We may have to postpone our victory that day, but we will taste the real triumph. In the end, we may not win the Dakar, but we will certainly win ‘our own Dakar.’ (by Marcos, a friend of mine)