Falling is Learning

I stared at the twisted piece of the metal that my dad placed in front of me. The object was magnificent. Never in my life had I ever seen a bright blue bike with white washed tyres accessorized with a tooting horn.

I ran my small hands over it in awe until I looked down at the tyres. At that instant, fear gripped my heart. There weren’t any training wheels on the bike.


I shot a questioning look at my dad. He smiled encouragingly and said, “Today is your first lesson
without training wheels.” He wrapped me up in a hug and whispered. “ You can do it. I know you can.” My dad had confidence in me even though I had slammed shut the door of faith.I knew I would fall and the reflection of this truth was clear in my dad’s eyes. However he was silent from pessimism. He encouragingly helped me onto the two-wheeled monster. I struggled to face my fear as my mind wandered to instances in the past when my dad was there for me.He placed an immense trust in me and I didn’t want to let him down. My dad’s patience, confidence and experience in riding a bike himself convinced me to sit in the black seat.

He stood there holding the bike, guiding me patiently over the rough pavement in the park. As he stood
beside me, I felt assured as he carefully let go of the bike. The wind whipped past me and I felt free and
happy to ride as an overwhelming sense of independence took over me. My dad’s encouraging words helped
me to appreciate the joys of riding a bike. The more I peddled the more I loved it.

I pictured my dad’s smiling face as he whispered, “ You can do it”. I peddled faster and faster , I was going to do it for him. My dad made it easier for me to thrust my fear aside because of his belief in me. His
optimistic side helped me to strive towards my goal of learning to ride a bike. I trust my dad to lead me down
the right road because as my parent, he loves me and he will do the best for me. My fear ceased because of my dad’s kind words and gentle nature. His experience and passion for living pushed me onward down the path.

As I sat on the asphalt examining my cut, my dad bent down and kissed the bleeding wound and said, “Falling is a part of learning”.