Author: directalternatives@protonmail.com

Continued digging a long dark tunnel to freedom with a dull bent spoon . Dig on. Dig in. Keep digging. Fall down. Get up. Pushed down. Get up. Never give up. Nothing. Absolutely nothing is worth your life except one thing. We will get into that later on in the journey. You matter. Your feelings matter. You are not alone. There is help. Tons of it. Part of my battle now is personally I really do not want any help. Would rather a satellite fall out of the sky and take me out on a nice bike ride along the canal. Or sitting in an outhouse. No matter. Expressive words. Learning how good all that English lit pays off. Hopefully.

Salutations to all. Hope all had a safe and joyful Independence Day. Sadly though we know or at least I know that is not the case by a long shot. Did anyone notice any of the ones who were struggling with the unseen? Find any people dragging a Titanic sized steel ball chained to their leg that is invisible to all or most all in their lives?

Over the past 36 hours I have been training the best I am able. For The Quest. I gorilla camped 2 nights, one on each side of Cape Cod Canal, whilst exploring more and more of both sides and areas. Surprisingly my pedals took me to Onset beach. That is the beach I would always stop at first at the butt crack of dawn for the Dunkin Donuts java kick and my angels could get their beloved feet wet at the beach. And then the picture with Aquien.

Slayed a dragon. It has changed enough that it can fit into a new beginning and I once again seen the beauty in it and not the pain. That is the problem often. For me and many many others. The best we can do is change routines as able and grit through it. We have to quit holding on to everything. Material and Emotional.

I was blessed in meeting so many people I am unable to remember all of the names. This is because of where I am at in a severe cycle of depression. Cannot think straight let alone accomplish anything with any success and reasonable time. That feed my frustrations and stress. On and on it goes. But the people. Since the 4th I have spoken with teens and elderly and all in between who have struggled with some form of trauma and or mental health issues as well as the alarming one. Suicide. Just on the 4th I spoke with 4 people who had recently lost someone to the darkness. And last night I sat on a bench with a woman, May, who lost someone very close to her to suicide. What she shared is the same symptoms many carry out of their own understanding and experiences. The guilt. The endless what ifs. The dread that often we see too late what was obvious to at least someone or a few people. ON AND ON I COULD GO.

Sparing you all much more. I have so much to do and this is the next blog going out. Have yet to use any of the planned drafts. As with the situation with business and websites all are in construction and will be for a couple of months. This is what is on my heart and why we need to change our tactics to beat most of what plagues society all too much. Abuse. Suicide. Homelessness. Addiction. Neglect. Other trauma.

Forgive my bouncing around and hard to grasp narrative. That will go away as the cycle of depression subsides and I get the stability needed with a residence and all that goes with it. Right now my personal belongings are scattered half a dozen places in 2 states and really. I am just winging it minute by minute. But endlessly, it seems, my bike is where it needs to be with me on it to meet someone who I was supposed to meet. All tying into what is on my heart. The Quest. The Camp. The healing. The helping.

Right now think of me as hacking my way through dangerous think jungle for a clear path that has been overgrown with tough vines and prickly flaura.

Will get all the emails set up so I can actually check them on my phone and easily.

Anyone thinking about harming themselves please take a moment. 10 moments. 60 moments. And 60 more. Reach out. Let someone know. Find the person who will listen. Find your dull bent spoon and start digging your tunnel. Others will join in with the effort.

Greetings to all and hoping all are managing the best they can. Hold it together for the next step in the fight. Don’t give up.

Today started with the blessing of feeding 4 gray squirrels and more chipmunks than I could count and one fired up red squirrel while enjoying my morning coffee. Been prepping to go lighter for a spell as I want to do some exploring both on and off of Cape Cod over the next few weeks while I am hunting for a place to live. There are a lot of appointments that need to be made and gone too as well. All in Gods time, health and the weather allow.

Had a great bike ride. Every ride on the Cape so far has been great. Closing in on 1000 miles ridden since I arrived in the middle of May. And those miles were with 2+ weeks of sciatica really bad in my left hip on top of all my “normal” daily pains. Still plugged through best I could. No opiates. Just over counter acetaminophen and ibuprofen and good old quality sativa with the right mix of pain and inflammation fighting profile. Much more on the helps and harms of marijuana as we go. And I am still learning. Every day. Not just on this subject but anything history and mechanical and I am a sucker to learn about it.

So. This post. The saga with my missing Samsung cell phone that was lost almost 2 weeks ago continues. I have been fighting to get it all straightened out. Fighting not the right word. Attempting to overcome hurdle after hurdle to get it straightened out. Shut off until I get phone, a new phone or cancel it all together. It has been over an hour of time and 4 phone calls so far and I am very little in progress of getting my Mint Mobile phone number active in my hands.

Through all of this God is working. On me. In major ways. Refining taken to a new level never seen before in my walk with The Lord that began 35 years ago on a Christmas Eve at St. Johns Evangelical Lutheran Church in Honesdale PA. And the key to it all has been obedience and faithfulness to His written word and promptings of the Holy Spirit.

I have not lost it totally. Beginning not to allow my frustrations burn to anger and harsh words not meant in any direction or that bring any good to a situation. Ever. Ever. Have I been perfect. By no means. But getting better at seeing it. Facing it. Realizing the roots of some of my frustrations and angers. Healing all the way. Little by little the cycle of depression thrust upon me the past 6 months seems to be lifting. Lifting to the point where I can concentrate and once again touch on my creative side and try and tackle all that needs to be done to get this move and new beginning completed.

So, as I end this I want to say I have to do all the paperwork that is part of moving to another state. That I hope to get completed over the next 2 weeks while also trying to find a place to live and start my business up. On top of that there is a home church to find and a Pastor to sit under and this nagging desire and vision for a very special non profit and Camp. A camp that will change lives.

That is another blog. Another day. May you find peace in whatever place you are in. Whether it be chaos or a bad day at work. Find peace where you are at. He has a name. Yeshua.

God bless you all. Keep on keeping on.

Respectfully, me

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!