Pedals of Time

Pedaling swiftly he huffs and puffs and he concentrates hard, making each pedal turn round and round. And he does it. He is riding free. The training wheels are gone. And he is 4 years old.

Diligently straining each muscle she inches bike pedals forward, forward. Balancing and tipping, it’s all in how she holds her 6 year old frame. A gentle nudge and she’s off. She can do it too!

 Up and down black asphalt they go. Careening excitedly along. You can feel their pride. I can feel my pride. It swells and grows and bursts out in applause. “You did it!” It’s an accomplishment akin to learning to read. A milestone in a child’s life.

 I remember well the day I learned to ride my own bike, training wheel free. A bike too large for my small size, but a bike just the same. I teetered and tottered, fell to the ground. But I was resolute and I kept in trying, and trying and trying yet some more until I got it.

One thing is interesting to note that once we began riding a bike without the training wheels on, we never went back to them. The old was gone, the new had come to stay. We never looked back and wished that we had our training wheels back on again. We liked the new way. We didn’t look back. Isn’t this a striking correlation for how life is? Embracing the new, moving on from the past, it’s part of who we are and who we were, it’s helped shape us into who we have become.

Life is an ever moving journey. Scrapes and bumps along the way, some parts we’d just as soon forget, other parts we’d like to hold on too and cradle for just a moment longer. We wish for the good times to linger on…

As I watched my children and their overflowing joy of accomplishment, I captured the moment, both in my heart and on my camera and one day, should time last, they will look back on these memories and remember the day they learned to ride their bikes…