Executive Report - February 2026

John Reblin

How is your Balance?

As we are entering a New Year, we all made those resolutions of change for the upcoming year. I am sure most of us want to lose a few pounds, get a new bike, find a significant other, or who knows what, on an endless stream of thoughts.

My first thought was I was looking for balance in my life. How do I divide my time between work, ABATE of Wisconsin, spending time with the “Little Flower” and taking care of myself. As I look over what my days and weeks consist of and how I devote time is what gets to be a challenge sometimes.

I try to put myself first. I want to work out, stay healthy, eat kind of right, so I am up to my ability to do things at my job, repairs around the house, and be able to keep up with everything else. If I do some heavier lifting without being ready for it or maybe focus on one body part over others for a time, I may get injured or hurt and that is going to affect other things I want to accomplish. I might need to readjust my goals in the work out area to possibly keep an injury away that could affect performance at work or home.

I have to make time, so I stay connected with family. You know the old saying, happy wife happy life. Well, if things get ignored around the house the happy wife turns angry and you need to reevaluate things. Also, with a family you need to stay connected with siblings, offsprings, and friends just to keep yourself grounded. They might need some help with a project or want to bounce ideas off of you. Maybe take a short vacation together to relax and recharge. Taking a break from everything recharges you when you get back, feeling ready to hit life again.

Work is important because I have grown accustomed to the lifestyle that I have and if I am not working some of that lifestyle leaves me. I will admit I am getting close to retiring from my job but enjoy some of the structure that I am involved in keeping busy, seeing people, and challenging my mind and body doing what I do. So, as I taper away from work, I want to make sure I have things I can do that keep me engaged and involved both with my mind and muscle.

Being involved with ABATE of Wisconsin has been a part of my life for a long time and I don’t see it changing in the near future. I enjoy what I do and how I can contribute to our mission statement. But if I get too committed during the week or month, you run the risk of work or family getting shortchanged. So, you need to balance that time also.

You don’t need to be a plate spinner on stage trying to keep up with all of it. You just need to be able to use common sense to keep everything in balance. Keep meeting people, enjoy those in your life now, don’t worry about the small stuff, fix what you can, and take it all in. Life is good and a lot of fun.

Officer Training is here and I am looking forward to seeing all and learning lots. I want to get input and ideas on increasing membership, reducing costs, and making this state stronger legislatively. We have some great guest speakers to help us and committee chairs willing to help us achieve our goals.

Right after Office Training - Lobby Day!! Hopefully you are all making plans to attend. It is important that we are a large group to explain to our Representatives in Madison what we want and why we need what we are asking for. We need to make sure they understand why we need the correct fuels, a choice of power options, making sure we are able to repair our equipment, or that we can take it somewhere besides a dealer, and concerns on autonomous vehicles. The loss of any of these could hasten the removal of motorcycles from the roads of Wisconsin.

Remember to check out the SafeRider training schedule and sign up for a Rider Education Course. Too far for you to travel? Check the local dealers and classes near you and get signed up. I am starting to think of what challenge I want to try this year to stay on top of the skills I need to arrive home safely.

That’s it. If you are still riding, be safe, be warm.

John