I often liken the lessons we have to learn in life to riding a bike. For those of us who are older, our first experience with bike riding was on a tricycle. It was a smaller version of a bike, a metal frame with one front wheel and two back wheels. Later generations knew them as Big Wheels. The same three wheel construction, but plastic frames and wheels. I find it amusing that there are now tricycles for older adults. Same three wheel construction, with a basket in the back, firmly anchored between the two back wheels so we can carry our baggage with us wherever we go.
Regardless, of what version we used, it gave us a solid foundation for learning how to ride, steer, brake, and maneuver. We were firmly supported as we learned. Then we graduated to a bike with training wheels. Two large wheels, with two smaller ones that supported us if we tipped too far to one side or the other. The smaller wheels kept us balanced and upright, catching us if we began to fall. Then the training wheels came off. We had to balance ourselves without the smaller wheels to catch us. Mom, Dad or some adult ran with us to start us off, then they let go. We had to keep ourselves upright and moving forward. Sometimes we got a few feet, sometimes an entire block, before we lost our balance. We would tip over, catch ourselves, and try the entire process over again. Finally, we were able to start, stop, and ride without assistance. We were free! Most of us graduated to bigger and sometimes different bikes. Some people moved on to motorized bikes. Some people used their bikes for pleasure, others as a main source of transportation. The important part was that we had all mastered the skill of bike riding.
In life, we are presented many lessons. If the lesson is completely new, the entry into the lesson is like riding the tricycle. It is our first time to trying to understand what life teaching us. If we are lucky, we have someone who mentors us through the process. If not, we stumble our way along, learning from the “school of hard knocks” as we go. Eventually, we begin to master the lessons. Once we acquire the fundamental skills, we work our way through the layers that come from deeper experience. We move on to more nuanced forms of the lesson — our bigger and better “bikes”. Each new experience within the lesson teaches us more balance, more control, more understanding.
Each new lesson starts the cycle again. Sometimes we can carry over learning from another lesson, and the learning curve isn’t as steep. We may already know how to move the pedals, steer, and maneuver. What we need is to learn how to balance ourselves again. Or, we know how to balance, but we need to apply the skills we learned to master a different lesson –a different kind of bike — or to master a different terrain.