My kids
remind me of the lessons in life that sometimes are hard when you live through
them, but wonderful when you can learn from them and then reflect back at how
far you’ve come. My
seven-and-a-half-year-old daughter experienced one of those lessons recently.
She was
struggling to ride her bike free of training wheels. We’d removed the training wheels last year
but she never quite got herself to ride more than a few feet without tilting to
one side and then halting out of a fear of falling.
The fear
of falling and failing is very real and quite understandable. But the wiser adult – I guess that’s me –
knows that if she just lets herself take a leap of faith and peddle through the
fear, she will just ride and ride and put the concept of falling to the back of
her brain.
We hadn’t
tried riding most of this summer. Each
time we’d raise the idea, she’d just put us off, letting her concerns gnaw at
her. She didn’t have the feeling of
accomplishment to counter it. She didn’t
know the bliss she could feel once she allowed one-foot to go in front of
another, repetitively.
She only
knew of failure. And by repeating that
doom-and-gloom scenario in her head and on her bike, that’s all that she knew
from.
But, then
one magical evening in the middle of August, I took her to a nearby park and
suggested we try again.
She gave
it her best but kept throwing her leg off the peddle so she could brace herself
for a fall that wasn’t coming until she created it.
I held
onto her bicycle by the seat, pushed her while running a few feet, and then let
her go, but she’d repeat her flawed attempt with the same result.
Then my
son tried to help, but to no avail.
I tried
holding her handlebars upfront, giving her a head start, hoping she’d stay
balanced and then ride on.
It came
close but it failed too. She was
programmed to fall short, repeating bad moves she’d learned from previous
fear-filled, anxiety-laced attempts.
I wondered
if she’d ever get it. The bike was fine and her mechanics would be sound if she
just let herself succeed. She had to
change one thing – the moment she felt inclined to put her foot down to catch
herself from falling would have to change to become a moment that she peddles harder and
lets the momentum carry her upright.
And then
it happened.
She did
it. Tears drying up from past
shortfalls, her cheeks now puffed out as the result of a smile. She was doing it, one foot in front of the
other, the bike moving forward and upright.
Oh,
my! We clapped and yelled support for her. My son and I were proud of
her. She had crossed a line she’d never
have to cross again.
She
repeated her success several times that night and as darkness fell upon us she
was shining as bright as the moon. She
knew she’d accomplished something special.
Determination and the will to succeed made this moment possible.
Writers,
too, must overcome their mental blocks, shortcomings, and challenges Finding time to write, research, edit, and
concentrate is one battle for writers. Having the confidence to succeed is
another. Being creative on command is
also a challenge. Whatever fears or
concerns writers must overcome, they can do it.
My
daughter overcame her bicycling fear and then once something clicked it was as
if she could see in color when she’d only known of a black and white world. W
hen we can find a way to cross our greatest challenge, we get to experience our
greatest joy.
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Brian Feinblum’s views,
opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his
employer. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him
at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the
third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2015
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