Life is like riding a bike

At the moment, the little boy living opposite me is learning to ride his bike. This has been a treasured moment for me, during the Covid-19 lockdown, as shown through the warmth in my heart when I see the family appear at around 5 pm, with their young son and a small orange child’s bike.

I remember learning to ride my bike at a similar age of around 4 years old. Rather like the little girl above in the GIF! And also my Dad encouraging me to pedal faster to gain the extra momentum. The determination to improve is a value-emotion that I have taken with me throughout my working career.

Even though learning to ride a bike can be precarious it reminds me that both personal life and our working life also require the values of adaption, determination and courage in the face of change. You know sometimes it seems like a bike has a mind of its own until you master your balance. I feel life is the same at the moment.

The old adage, 'like riding a bike' is one of my favourite metaphors used to paraphrase when we attempt to do something that we haven't done for a while. We trust our previous learning will still be accessible, and often, it is, and often we rise to the challenge and surprise ourselves.

For example, when I said to myself this week that editing the footage for my yoga video could be precarious – in fact, it was like riding a bike! And the added bonus was I found I had more ability to use some of the special effects to make the final cut.

I love the English language and I wonder how many similar metaphors there might be in other languages. If you know of any I'd love to hear them.

Take care, stay safe and perhaps try out an old skill - you might be surprised how your creativity comes zooming back to you.

With warm wishes

Jo