Learning to ride a bike.

I know the weather has been all over the place it seems like for a lot of the country. Here in Texas the past couple of weeks, though, it’s been really beautiful! In fact, it’s perfect weather to be enjoying the outdoors, getting our fill of vitamin D, and taking a much needed break from the indoors. With an active little boy on our hands, it’s also been the perfect time for him to start learning to ride a bike! And it’s been, well, a bit of an adventure. There’s been some tumbles and spills to be sure! With the help of training wheels, he’s worked really hard and (we think!) has the hang of it now. 

During this process there were several phrases that I found myself repeating to help our Little Dude see some success in the bike riding world. And I realized they really could be useful for more than riding a bike so I want to share them with you now…

“Keep your feet moving!” Man, if I had a dollar for every time I have said this over the past few weeks of bike lessons, I could enjoy several really nice take out dinners! But really, the more I thought about this, the more connections to life I could draw. When we are in a rut, feeling like it’s just the same thing over and over again that we struggle with, it can be really hard to have the motivation to keep moving forward. I can’t stress how important it is to keep moving forward. Whatever that looks like for you! For some right now, moving forward means getting up and getting ourselves ready to face another day. For others, it means having the courage to have a hard conversation. No matter what it is that you’re trying to move forward with, just keep moving those feet. I promise it will be worth it! 

“Eyes forward!” Did you know how many fascinating things there are along a sidewalk for a beginning bike rider to notice?! I do. There are approximately 139. Flowers, rocks, irrigation flags, you name it! Did you also know that when you are learning to ride a bike and aren’t keeping your eyes ahead where you are going that it’s much easier to fall? The other phrase I’ve said a lot lately to our little cycler is “Eyes forward!”. It was a much smoother ride when he could keep his eyes and focus forward, ahead, towards where he wanted to go. I don’t think I have to go into great depth here to show how helpful this can be in our own lives. What is that goal that you’re working towards? It’s easy to let things along the way distract you from moving closer to that goal. Maybe you’re wanting to improve your overall quality of life, but some things in your past are holding you back. It can be easy to let our eyes drift off to the side or even try to look backwards. As challenging as it can be, keep your eyes forward. You are worth the effort it takes! 

So, who wants to get out and dust off your bike? Just remember, keep your feet moving and your eyes forward! You got this.

Be well, 
JoEllen