Lessons We Can Learn From ‘Biking’

I didn’t know bikes sold in stores in shiny red and blue;

My bike was made of junkyard parts my daddy sorted through.

My brother and my sisters all had bikes that Daddy also made;

And learning to ride my own bike was something that I craved.

My Daddy promised me a bike when I reached six years old;

As that birthday loomed ahead, my begging grew more bold.

Finally, he went to the basement to build a bike for me,

Using all those rusted parts he picked up nearly free.

The bike he built was very large for a little girl like me;

So I had to learn while standing up, but how hard could that be?

With staunch determination, I tried and took a fall,

And wished with all my little heart that bike was not so tall;

But in time I learned to stand and ride which made my daddy proud

Of how I took those many falls and never cried out loud.

My bike was balanced perfectly and I could ride, “no hands”

After I grew tall enough to sit instead of stand;

The bike was never shiny and it really wasn’t “new”

But it taught a little girl to have fun while “making do”.

(From The Bicycle Daddy Made For Me By Betty Killebrew)

Just like the bike the daddy made for the little girl, big it was for her and she thought she would not be good at. But, as she persevered despite the ‘falling downs’ many times, she learned one day to stand and be proud.

It is not in the times that we fell down, but in the standing ups do really count–in facing life.

Source: www.inspirationalarchive.com