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Learning to Ride a Bike
Last night my son rode his bike without training wheels for the first time. What an exciting thing for a dad (and his mom who had the video camera) to experience…and what a fantastic memory that Bennett will always carry with him.
As I was uploading the video to my Macbook I couldn’t help but think of the power of commitment. Bennett saw I had removed his training wheels and said “cool, let’s go!” I’ll admit I was shocked at his excitement but went with the flow. I held on to the seat for about 5 feet and let go…and he pedaled across the street-success!
As I reflected on the moment I focused on Bennett’s committment. He jumped on, let me help me him gain momentum and then went for it. His decision to commit gave him focus, confirmed the belief in his own ability to do it and gave him the desire to succeed. All of the things that Bennett did well to reach his goal (subconsciously, of course) are precisely what adults do to acheive theirs.
A commitment is an agreement or pledge to do something in the future. I believe lasting committment can only happen when we have a significant purpose to the thing we are committing to. For example, Bennett was committed to riding a bike so he could be like his friends and because he knew that only “big boys” ride a bike without training wheels. In his mind, being a “big boy” was more important to him than crashing his bike-so he gave it his all.
Think of the significant purpose as a vision: a preferable picture of the future. Committment to that purpose requires focus, persistance and the will to constantly work towards strengthing that decision to better the future. Commitment to a relationship, career, religion or sport demands that we constantly strive for positive change, thus giving us a reason to stay committed when times get tough.
Next time you are faced with making a committment, think back to when you learned to ride a bike…make sure you can do what’s required to make it lasting-and enjoy the ride!
