What I Learned From Riding my Bike

Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to learn how to ride my bike without holding the handlebars. Whenever I saw another kid riding their bike with no hands, I thought it was the coolest thing in the world, and if I learned, I would be cool too. There was one problem though. Whenever I let go of the handlebars, I would instantly lose my balance, and would latch back on to the bars. Frustrated, I gave up the pursuit and rode around like a normal kid. Looking like a dork who used the handlebars.

Fast forward to now, and I can ride a bike with no hands. I even have the ability to take turns without holding anything. I feel like I am one with my bicycle, and only through practice was I able to learn how. I would let go of my handlebars for one second. Reset. Another second. Reset. Next time two seconds. Reset. Until I was riding down the street and able to reset when I wanted to.

This experience taught me a little something about persistence, and the widely known idiom, "practice makes perfect." As a child I was never very persistent. I would give up if the task did not come naturally to me, but I have learned that anything worthwhile takes time and effort to master. In this case, it was riding a bike with no hands. I've learned that if you want to learn a new skill or talent, all it takes is time and practice, and you will be able to do it.

Walking on my hands, playing the drums, drawing, twirling drumsticks, using Premiere Pro; these are all things I wanted to learn how to do, but the only way to learn them would be to practice. Over and over again. I think it all starts with a mindset. Instead of thinking "this is impossible," or "I'll never be able to do this;" it is better to think in terms of "I may not be able to do this today, or even tomorrow, but eventually I will."

Right now I am working on a video project for TGC, and I need to learn how to use Premiere Pro in order to finish the project. As anyone who has ever used Premiere Pro probably remembers, Premiere is an extremely intimidating and daunting program at first glance. But instead of letting that discourage me, I just think that within a month's time, I'll be using the program like a pro. And the same philosophy can be applied to just about anything. You just need to be willing to invest the time, and effort.

This may all sound obvious but I feel too often we get discouraged by things we don't know how to do. But by the laws of nature the more you do something, the better you will become. We just need to find the will to be persistent in our endeavors, and to keep picking up that guitar or skateboard or whatever else it may be.