Training Wheels
By Jim Yerman
Remember when you learned to ride a bike…how the world was all brand new?
Have you ever stopped to think about the all the changes you went through?
Close your eyes…think back..remember how it feels…
You started on a tricycle…then a bicycle with training wheels
Then came the day that changed your world, we all must face them as we grow
The day you knew it was time…for the training wheels to go.
Remember Dad or Mom running behind you; hearing their encouragement…their groans…remember seeing them in the distance…you were riding on your own!
At that moment you were alive and you thought…this bike riding is a piece of cake.
till you remembered they taught you how to ride but forgot to teach you how to brake.
It turns out life is a series of changes we experience along the way
for, like it or not, everything is changing, every second, every day.
Of course we are aware of this…but once in a while we’re a little more attuned
like when Sunday merges into Monday or May turns into June.
And every now and then we take a moment from our normal circadian climb
to think about the changes we’ve encountered within the passages of time.
A baby changes daily and in no time at all is learning how to crawl
as quickly as the summer breezes give way to the winds of fall.
We blink and that crawling baby is a child, then a teenager on the go
as quickly as the falling leaves of autumn turn into winter snow.
Blink again and that teenager becomes an adult with all the responsibilities that brings.
as quickly as the winter snow lifts revealing the flowers…the colors of spring.
Change engulfs us, it’s inevitable…and though we may not understand why
without it…not one caterpillar would become a butterfly?
Since life will not slow down for us no matter how we’ve tried
I think learning to ride a bike has helped prepare us for the ride.
After all we need to keep pedaling to stay balanced, we learn from our mistakes,
we feel joy knowing we can ride and knowing when to hit the breaks.
“Oh that’s ridiculous! How can riding a bike prepare us for life? ” you laugh…perhaps you scoff…
It’s simple really, it prepares us for all those days…
when our training wheels come off.