Thursday, December 12, 2013

Just Like Riding A Bike...

Sometimes life can be like riding a bicycle. It can be an exhilarating, liberating, joy inducing, awe inspiring, fun-filled, satisfying experience. Soaring along, enjoying the beautiful scenery, wind whipping through your hair.
But sometimes there are unforeseen circumstances that throw you off balance. Sometimes, the chain comes off mid-pedal and you are spinning your legs madly and getting nowh...ere fast! Or you hit a steep hill and you have work harder than ever before to make it to the top.
Sometimes, you hit an unexpected rock or bump or patch of sand or gravel, and you slip and you slide and wobble... Sometimes, you recover just in the nick of time. With your heart racing wildly in panicked relief. And sometimes you don't. Sometimes despite your very best effort to correct, you lose control and go flying, ass over tea kettle onto the pavement. Banging your elbows and knees. Tasting dirt and blood from face planting into the unforgiving ground.
You struggle to regain your knocked out breath. Sitting in the ditch on the side of the road, watching the ridiculous spinning of your overturned bicycle, you wipe your tears, and assess the extent of the damage.
Are you okay? Can you walk? Is your bike incapacitated? Can you ride? Do you even want to try???
We can and we do. Our perseverance is epic. And we go on to have days filled with carefree joy, freedom and fulfillment. Falling down, getting hurt and continuing on is part of the process . We fall. We get up. And so it goes. Life is a precarious ride. But the fact of the matter is, you'll never get where you're going if you don't get back on the bike, or learn to ride in the first place. Don't let fear or discouragement prevent you from feeling the pure bliss of immersing yourself fully into the unlimited, infinitely rewarding possibilities afforded you simply by being alive!
-Love