Learn and experience life as a child

At the end of the UK lockdown 1.0 I bought a bike. The first time owning a bike in 5 years. I wanted to feel free and explore, shake off the lockdown frustrations to feel life come back. A little. We still had restrictions to workaround. It’s now 18 months since I collected my bike and cycled home along the canal path. Smiling like a kid. What is that expression ‘it is like riding a bike’. After one minute of wobbling about I found my bike mojo. There is something so natural about riding a bike.

My bike and I have been on lots of adventures together. We have even been on a ferry together. A train. We cycle to the supermarket. To the library. To meet people. We come as a pair. I found some hills near where life and I cycle down, freewheeling. Fingers slightly perched on the brakes ready to activate the brake system if things get out of control. The feeling is indescribable. A mix of terror and invigoration. 100% joyful. Very In the moment. And feeling very alive.

I remember this feeling as a kid. Exploring on your bike, pushing your freewheeling boundaries. Always in slight fear of a fall, especially at speed. But it was a risk you were whiling to take. You were warned of the fall. By your parents, your friends and from what you’d heard. ‘If you fall off your bike, when cycling fast, it could be dangerous’. Maybe that is what we chased. The danger. The unknown. The surge of terror and exhilaration in equal measures. 

Remember, or maybe not, when as I kid you would start to crawl, then walk. First Indoors, then slowly you would walk outside. Now think of the possible danger. A walk, would become a run. The clumsy run soon a fast frantic run, and it would happen- you would fall down. You would fall, feel a soreness, look around for comfort and shout for help by crying. Your parent would remind you not to run fast, dust you off and pop you back on your feet. They would look you in the eye and nod, looking ahead, as encouragement to get back out there. Inside you would update your danger narrative. Running fast could lead to a fall and a sore feeling, but quite quickly the feeling would pass and you were back on your feet. You had learned and adjusted accordingly. As you developed and grew more confident in your ability, you would fall less. You wouldn’t even think of it. 

This is a representation of life. Try, fall, try again. Fall, change your approach, try again. Keep moving forward, growing and learning. Enjoying experiences. 

Well it should be if we learn and live like a child. But this is the reality for many:

1. Consider trying something new, overthink it, associate the worse case scenario with the outcome and don’t try.

2. Try something new, fall down and remain stuck. You’ve validated your worse case scenario and won’t be trying that again. You experienced some pain or discomfort and don’t want to even consider another attempt.

Weirdly, only recently, I recalled an experience I had completely forgotten about. A really crazy, terrifying experience that happened in Ubud, Bali. Technically this experience, which happened in 2012, should have resulted in the second ‘stuck’ scenario. It involved a bike. In 2012 my partner and I were cycling through the nature infused streets of Ubud, home to the rice fields. It was the most sweaty, strenuous experience ever but it was joyful. A copy of that experience depicted in the Eat, Pray, Love movie. As I cycled fast downhill, probably freewheeling, I suddenly heard a massive ‘this bike is breaking’ noise. Then I felt my whole body fly through the air, hurled off the bike by a strong unknown force. A second ago I was joyfully cycling my hire bike through the dreamiest of Asian landscapes then the next thing I hear my partner shout my name in panic. I am flying, at high speed, into the side of the road. A grassy ditch. I lay for what felt like a lifetime in the foetal position. Majorly confuse. I had tried to protect myself by turning my body into a ball and falling sideways. Mainly to avoid any head or face scraping injuries. ‘Not the face’! My partner had witnessed it all. The mud guard protecting the bike wheel had came lose and got stuck on the wheel. As I cycled, the bike - at speed- was met with resistance which resulted in me flying across the air in dramatic fashion. And a little terrifying when I recall it now. On inspection I was ok, and the bike was ok. So guess what I did. I jumped up, dusted myself off and got back on that bike. Like a kid would do. Nothing broken, no scrapes, just a little shaken. 

Did I turn against bikes? No. I put it down to an experience. An ‘Asian hire bike’ experience. A rental bike is different from your own bike. It has more wear and tear. 

Did I allow it to put me off future bike experiences? Definitely not. 

Should I have been going a bit slower downhill? Maybe, but where is the fun if there is no ‘controlled’ fear.

My advice to you: learn and experience life as a child. Try, fall, try again. Fall, change your approach, try again. Keep flowing and adjusting with life. Sometimes we need to dust ourselves off and acknowledge we are ok. It wasn’t THAT bad. Life will deliver some terrifying, in the moment, experiences but maybe they are a test. To build our resilience. Don’t turn your back on something you love just because of one ‘bad’ experience.

If I did I would have missed out on some of the most joyful and free experiences of my life. A bad day can be fixed with a downhill freewheeling cycle. Trust me, i know.