No Training Wheels

Back in May, my daughter expressed that she was ready to ride her bicycle with no training wheels.  A wealth of emotions came over me: excitement, anxiety, and even nostalgia.
Quentel and I took turns holding her bike up, giving her running starts, and letting go.  We couldn't even count the number of times she fell.  She fell so much that she learned that if she felt herself falling, she could veer into the grass and avoid the more painful falls.

As I observed, the Lord revealed to me (as he has many times before) that, as an adult, I could take something from this.  As adults, we also have to make a conscious decision to ride without our training wheels.  Often times, we can become complacent in our comfort zones, and simply settle, when there is an entire world out there to be explored and a greater purpose to fulfill.  But isn't it just easier to ride with my training wheels?  After all, I don't want to fall.

Sometimes, we have to fall to in order to rise to greater heights.  These places are some that we can never imagine, but God has designed with the purpose of us reaching them.  Now, here comes the hard part... we have to step out of our comfort zone.  We have to take off our training wheels!

On that warm, sunny day in May, Genysis' friends came out and rode their bicycles (minus the training wheels), and as we continued in the same pattern - holding her bike, giving her a running start, releasing, and watching her pedal a few feet only to fall - she became tired and distracted.  After all, she was only five years old.  She seemed to be regressing instead of progressing.  Now, she wasn't even pedalling for a few feet, she would fall immediately upon our letting go of the bicycle.  But I thought we were making progress!

Well, I became frustrated, knowing that she could do it, and I became irritated with the regression.  So, I began to lack compassion, and instead, I expressed aggression.  When my five year old was already tired and distracted, I decided to add 'discouraged' to the mix of feelings.  Before I knew it, I had a weeping five year old who now believed that she was inferior because she could not ride her bicycle without  her training wheels (yet)... thanks to ME!

Of course, God revealed something else to me at this point.  When we, as adults, are learning to ride without our training wheels and stepping out of our comfort zone, it is important to surround ourselves with positive and supportive people to uplift and encourage us during our times of discouragement, frustration, exhaustion, and distraction.  In turn, we must do the same for those whom we surround as they are moving out of their comfort zones.  You would be surprised at the impact that one person's attitude can have on another's progress.

So, once I decided to regain my composure and change my attitude, Genysis' attitude changed as well, and that very same day, she was riding with no training wheels!  With our encouragement, Genysis now believed in herself, and chose not to give up!  Now, she feels free and liberated and is able to explore a whole new world.  You can, too!