That little nudge
This evening, on my way home, I saw a young woman and her child bicycling on the sidewalk. The kid was tiny - probably no more than six - but he was able to keep his balance on the bike rather admirably. No training wheels, nothing. I watched until he and his mother were out of sight. It reminded me of my 'biking story', on a sunny morning in late summer many years ago.
On my seventh birthday my parents bought me a bike. I think it was pink - every little girl's dream! I'm sure I was as precious in their eyes as the bicycle was in mine, so Ma told me to be very careful with it. Paa couldn't wait to teach me to ride it. I was a rather nervous child - sensitive, and scared of falling - and failing. Not very different from what I am today, I fear. I rode it immediately with the training wheels, but I was so conscious of their absence when they were removed that three months rolled around before anyone made any progress with me. When something finally occurred, no one was more surprised than I.
It happened like this: One fine Saturday morning, during the Diwali vacation, one of my many "big brothers" in the building offered to teach me how to ride my bike. Actually, I think he challenged himself to teach me to ride it ... within one day! AS was our neighbor and a friend of my cousins. A young teen at the time, he was someone I knew - and, more importantly, trusted - as much as I knew and trusted my own cousins. I was as eager to learn as I was scared to fall - so I accepted his offer. Privately, of course, I couldn't see how he'd manage to get me to ride the bike the same day. He told me the best way to learn to ride it was without the training wheels. I protested, but was overruled. I then made him promise he would hold the bike at the back and run behind me while I rode. He agreed. We set off. I could feel his grip at the back, so I confidently rode on. After a few seconds, I turned around to make sure he was there. He was - but around 20 feet or so away. The shock of it, of course, made me lose my balance. But the Fact was: I had ridden On My Own! Armed with that knowledge, I decided to try again. And this time, I did it. So, he did prove his point to me after all, and in probably less than a half-hour!
That incident, and several others like it down the years, have told me a story. They've taught me that I'm so scared of failure that, unfortunately, I tend to want to give up even before I start. They've also taught me that a little push from the right person in the right direction goes a long way. Of course, life hasn't been uniformly smooth so far - and I have never expected it to be that way. But I am grateful to AS and others like him that have seen more in me than I myself have, and have given me that little nudge at the right time that makes all the difference between success and failure!
And by the way, you, of course, are not keeping track, so I'll enlighten you: this is my two hundredth post on this blog.
On my seventh birthday my parents bought me a bike. I think it was pink - every little girl's dream! I'm sure I was as precious in their eyes as the bicycle was in mine, so Ma told me to be very careful with it. Paa couldn't wait to teach me to ride it. I was a rather nervous child - sensitive, and scared of falling - and failing. Not very different from what I am today, I fear. I rode it immediately with the training wheels, but I was so conscious of their absence when they were removed that three months rolled around before anyone made any progress with me. When something finally occurred, no one was more surprised than I.
It happened like this: One fine Saturday morning, during the Diwali vacation, one of my many "big brothers" in the building offered to teach me how to ride my bike. Actually, I think he challenged himself to teach me to ride it ... within one day! AS was our neighbor and a friend of my cousins. A young teen at the time, he was someone I knew - and, more importantly, trusted - as much as I knew and trusted my own cousins. I was as eager to learn as I was scared to fall - so I accepted his offer. Privately, of course, I couldn't see how he'd manage to get me to ride the bike the same day. He told me the best way to learn to ride it was without the training wheels. I protested, but was overruled. I then made him promise he would hold the bike at the back and run behind me while I rode. He agreed. We set off. I could feel his grip at the back, so I confidently rode on. After a few seconds, I turned around to make sure he was there. He was - but around 20 feet or so away. The shock of it, of course, made me lose my balance. But the Fact was: I had ridden On My Own! Armed with that knowledge, I decided to try again. And this time, I did it. So, he did prove his point to me after all, and in probably less than a half-hour!
That incident, and several others like it down the years, have told me a story. They've taught me that I'm so scared of failure that, unfortunately, I tend to want to give up even before I start. They've also taught me that a little push from the right person in the right direction goes a long way. Of course, life hasn't been uniformly smooth so far - and I have never expected it to be that way. But I am grateful to AS and others like him that have seen more in me than I myself have, and have given me that little nudge at the right time that makes all the difference between success and failure!
And by the way, you, of course, are not keeping track, so I'll enlighten you: this is my two hundredth post on this blog.
posted by Summer Showers at
5:58 PM
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