About 17 years ago I went off-road mountain biking for the first time. I’d never done anything quite like it before – intensely thrilling and both physically and mentally challenging. In fact, it was the mental part of it that struck me the most. It seemed to me that to be able to ride well, the mental part was almost more important than the physical. The riding skills would come through practice and hard work, but if you were not mentally focused and ‘on your game’, you’d struggle through the ride and increase your risk of injury.
I remember one particular piece of advice that was given to me on that first day – it seemed almost magic in its ability to make a difference in my riding. It literally worked without fail every time:
‘Look where you want to go’
Out on the trail, there are a number of things or situations you’d want to avoid – steep ravines, drop-offs or anything that your front wheel could get caught in. All too often, especially as a new rider, you’d tend to fixate on these things and end up heading straight for them, the exact opposite of what you wanted to do. Understanding the relationship between my eyes and the front wheel of my bike was the first step toward becoming a better rider. Where I looked, my bike would go. A simple yet powerful piece of knowledge.
That little saying stayed with me, and a few years later I found myself using it again when learning to ride a motorcycle. I was once again amazed at how this simple idea could be so effective. But there it was – smooth riding, u-turns and riding through narrow openings all made possible by looking in the direction I wanted to go. I even started using the idea just for fun when I was out on a walk. Whether it was a narrow curb, a painted road line or a log at the beach – I looked at the path I wanted to take, where I wanted my feet to go. I aced it every time, walking swiftly and without hesitation. It always made me smile!
Over the last few years, my life has changed quite dramatically and I find myself thinking…a lot. Anyone who has gone through big changes, suffered losses or has had to begin the task of rebuilding a life knows how difficult it can be. I’m grateful for my friends and family, they’ve given true meaning to the statement ‘I couldn’t have done it without them’. But after the dust settles and you begin the conscious act of living again, it becomes very apparent that you’re alone in it all. The choices, the self-discovery, the path you take towards a new life – it’s all up to you. Sometimes that realization seems so daunting and I feel completely overwhelmed. Other times I’m struck by the freedom of it and the gift I consider it to be. There are good days and bad days, for sure, but I like to think of myself as an optimist and a saying by Robert Brault comes to mind:
‘Optimist: someone who figures that taking a step backward after taking a step forward is not a disaster, it’s a cha-cha’.
Love it!
At some point in the last little while – through the hard times, the uncertainty and the daily baby-stepping – I remembered that little saying I learned all those years ago. I wondered…could I apply it to life? I immediately made a decision to start looking where I want to go. It was at that very moment that I started to smile.
Photo Credits
Photos by Carol Good – all rights reserved
Briana James says
What a great thought, Carol. I too believe in “looking where you want to go”, kind of like a live vision board – how fun 🙂
Carol says
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Briana…it IS fun!