Author: directalternatives@protonmail.com

Greetings to all and best wishes.

It has been a month of overcoming and healing. Overcoming one hurdle and problem after another. Healing thru it all and growing stronger every day. My energy levels have come back. That is something surprising as it is an added bonus to the decision to finally move and get out of the washed up back water town of Honesdale, PA.

Today I find myself at the Mashpee Public Library. By far one of the nicest I have ever seen so far in my short life. As I sit here typing away on my laptop I am in awe of the bike ride here. The scenery was breathtaking. Cranberry bogs. Preservation lands. Beautiful houses and properties. But. All along every road it seems. There was garbage. Lots of it. More than I ever noticed in my years coming to the Cape to visit. A good third of it is from contractors and stuff blowing off or out of trucks. Buckets, bucket lids and other building packaging and materials. The rest is just ignorant tourists who for some reason either do not care or have not been loved enough to have been taught to care.

It is sad. We have beauty all around us. No matter where we go or are located. All we have to do is take the time to notice and look. It really is that easy. And yet we just litter away. Every where we go. Why is that? Is there an end purpose to destroy what we have before our kids and their kids can even enjoy them? We need to look beyond ourselves and understand our impact and part in this thing we call life.

Once again this is not the blog post I had planned but it is what was given to me along the road on my way here. Cleaning up is a good thing but keeping things clean are even better.

Lets keep it clean people. Keep America Beautiful.

Day 7 with a lost or stolen phone. The nightmare continues . . . . .

As posted in my very first official blog post I lost my cell phone last Wednesday afternoon in Sandwich MA. It was last used taking a photo of my laptop screen of camping reservation. After that I thought I packed up my stuff into bags on my bike and pedaled off into the evening. Somewhere between Sandwich Public Library, River Street and Tupper Road and halfway to Sagamore bridge on the CC Canal I noticed I did not have my phone. Searched my gear. Drove the route I took multiple times. Stopped to ask strangers and property owners as well as many businesses. No luck. No phone. No signs of it being driven over or smashed.

The police were notified and as of yet, no luck with them although some interesting information has come to my attention concerning a second persons phone turning up missing at the same campground. Not running with that yet until I get some definitive proof that my phone may have been stolen and being used.

This all leads me to this statement. Anyone trying to reach me via my Mint Mobile phone I do not have my phone in my possession or access to messages, Working on getting a GO Phone up and running today that I purchased yesterday and paid for the activation but as of yet it has not “activated” to use the phone or data. Very displeased about that and hopefully I will not have to get on a phone and straighten this out because I am ripping mad.

Our thoughts and emotions are very powerful in how they effect everything within us and around us. Keeping on top of them is a battle and key to stretches of victory over the darkness of depression and good mental health. It is so easy to allow things to snowball within us to the point where we neglect self care and begin not to eat properly and also not sleep and rest as needed. And this is just the start of the effects to watch for as they can progress to more and more detrimental health issues. All feeding us into a downward spiral unless we or someone else catches it and intervenes.

Things could push things to be my “normal” Rick self and go off on a disaster mode of everything I try is met with difficulty and multiple hurdles to gain traction let alone victory and complete something. Giving up is not the solution. Nor is giving in. The very fact that I am typing this out to explain where I am at is a plus. I have endeavored on my biggest quests and goals ever in my life. Real goals. Goals of a relocation and new beginning, Goals of restarting my Business. Goals of starting a personal blog. Goals of bringing mental health awareness to the masses and bike pack across USA in 2026 for Mental Health Awareness & beat back the darkness so many battle. In silence and seeming abandonment.

We are never in it alone as we so often think. We tend to block so many people in our situations that we forget and the stinking thinking takes over. Many people care. Our problems often lie into how we became wired to think the way we think and react the way we react and to correct the things we are able to correct and to deal with the rest in positive and constructive ways.

Is it easy. No. Not at all. I quit 100 times a day. But if on the 101st I do not quit then there is one victory. If you do 100 things in a day and screw 99 of them up but you did that 1 thing perfectly and all worked to benefit then STAND ON THAT ONE THING! Tomorrow is another day. Strive for it. Never give up as easy as it often is. Get back up. Dig in. Wipe the dust off and take the next positive step,

You can do it. I know you can. I have been doing it for 56 years. Perseverance still works.

Persevere. Run the race to be in it not just to try and win it. Any finish is a finish. Champions do not quit. The grit and determination is what drives them not the prizes.

Peace to all. May God bless you and you find peace within yourself so that you may experience tranquility in midst of chaos.

Until next time, Keep on Keeping on!