It was 100 degrees outside and I was making the 20-minute walk to the nearest Starbucks. Upon entering I proceed to make my order and I ended up complaining to the barista about how hot it was outside. It was then when he replied to me "Why don't you just get a bike?"
That seemed to be the perfect solution, except for one thing: I DID NOT KNOW HOW TO RIDE A BIKE.
The average person learns how to ride a bike when they are five years old. This was not the case for me, as my fifth birthday came and gone without even the mention of a bike.
For the next years, I would see plenty of people riding bikes and I would always think about what it would have been like to know how to ride a bike.
I was always told that it was impossible to learn how to ride a bike as an adult. Because of this, I convinced myself that riding a bike was something that I would never be able to do.
After I walked out of the Starbucks with my Caramel Frappe, I decided that I was going to stop making excuses and finally learn how to ride a bike. I went to the nearest Walmart and found the cheapest bike that I could find.
I made a promise to myself that I would learn how to ride a bike on my own.
I knew that I was going to make several mistakes along the way. The first was watching YOUTUBE videos. The reason being is because of the fact that YOUTUBE made it look easy.
I watched countless videos saying that you could learn how to ride a bike in three hours. But after the first three hours were unsuccessful, I became frustrated and almost gave up.
Then I started to think, a toddler does not learn how to walk without failing several times. Nor does a baby learn to crawl. For the next five days, I practiced for hours at a time learning and finally with through countless setbacks, I finally I learned to ride a bike.
It was one of the happiest moments of my summer because I was able to do something that I never thought I would have been able to do. What I gained most from this is the fact that you really can achieve anything that you set your mind to.
Too often we allow time to dictate our lives. You have to have kids before your married and you have to graduate before you are 25. But, in reality, everyone is different.
I read stories all the time about people in their 50s going back to school or even starting their college degree. What learning how to ride a bike at age 20 taught me is the fact that it's never too late to accomplish your goals.
