Riding the Bike of Life

My 5.5 year old saw her friend riding her bike withOUT training wheels.  On the way home from our friend's house, my daughter immediately asked if SHE could learn to ride her bike withOUT training wheels too.

When we got home, I took the training wheels off her bike.  And thus began the adventure of teaching my first child to ride her bike.

Excited to have the training wheels off and get going, but has NO idea what all learning to ride this way entails!

Let me assure you, this task is NOT for the faint of heart.  It is NOT for the weak or the weary.  It is NOT for those who can't handle falls, and scrapes, and bruises, and tears. Lots and lots of tears.  And sighs of frustration.  And shouts of discouragement.  And pleas to just give up already.

Oh no, teaching your children to ride a bike without training wheels is quite the ordeal.
You will be out of breath as you run down the sidewalk, holding onto the back of your child's bike, helping them stay upright.

You will learn how to look ahead and gage when your child will be at the next patch of grass, and time it perfectly to let go at just the right moment so they will most likely fall on the softer grass as opposed to the neighbor's rockhard driveway.

You will inspect scrapes and cuts, assuring your child they are okay, encouraging them to get back up and mount their bike once more.

You will repeat again and again and again, "Good job!  Let's try it again!  You'll get better and better the more you practice.  You CAN do this.  I am so proud of you."  And other such phrases as you celebrate the small successes and hope with all your heart they do even better the next ride.

You will hold your breath as they fall and pray they don't break their wrist or twist their ankle.

You will pretend to keep holding onto the back of the bike and ride beside your child while they peddle solo without realizing what they are doing!  And then when they do fall, you will tell them your secret and explain how proud of them you are!

You will watch as they figure out how to get going on their bike without you holding the back to steady it.  You will cheer and clap as they make their way down the sidewalk, holding your breath as they swerve and sway several times but somehow manage to stay upright and reach the end of the street.

You will tear up as you see the HUGE smile spread across their face as they look back at you, excited they rode down the sidewalk all by themself!

When they get back to the house, you will give them a high five and a big hug.  Then, of course, you will take a picture to capture the moment and treasure the memory forever!

Reaching home after riding all the way down the sidewalk to the end of the street by herself!

Over the past several days as my daughter has been learning the process of riding her bike without training wheels, I feel like I have learned so many life lessons!

*Getting started is the hardest part.

*Having someone help you and give you advice is key to success.

*You have to listen to the person/people helping you and take the advice they give.

*If you keep your eyes straight ahead and look to where you are going, you are more likely to stay upright and less likely to fall.

*When you do fall, you have to get back up and try again.  Staying on the ground doesn't do you any good or get you any closer to reaching your goals.

*The more you practice, the better you get.

*The more you try, the more confident you feel.

*When you accomplish your goals, it feels really, really, really good!

*Those who helped you get started are going to enjoy celebrating with you and will tell you they KNEW you could do it.

Sadly, in life, we often forget how we didn't learn to ride a bike without training wheels our first try.  We want success to be IMMEDIATE.  And if we don't reach our goals right away or we encounter hardship or face difficulty or have to overcome an obstacle, we want to give up.  If we fall or have a set back, we whine and complain and begin to think we will never be able to do what we want.  We have a pity party. We look at others who are doing what we want and wonder why our success hasn't come yet.  We compare ourselves to others who have been practicing longer and have more experience than us.  We get distracted and look sideways and backwards instead of focusing on OUR goals and keeping our eyes straight ahead to where WE want to go.  And if we don't get there fast enough, we stop.  We quit.

And we miss out.
Big time.

Imagine if my daughter had gotten so discouraged about falling so many times that first day.  What if she had decided that she couldn't do it and asked me to put the training wheels back on - or worse yet had put her bike away in the garage and never riden it again?

Well, then, today never would have happened!
She started all by herself, without me holding the back to steady it.
She rode all the way down the sidewalk to the end of the street, without me running beside her.
She stopped at the turn, all by herself, and looked back at me with the BIGGEST smile ever!  She was so proud of herself, and I was one excited mama too!  When she got back to the house, I gave her a HUGE hug and told her how amazing she was!

Teaching my 5 year old to ride her bike without training wheels was really more of a lesson in LIFE for ME!!