“Life is like riding a bicycle: to keep your balance, you must keep moving.” – Albert Einstein
This is a picture of my darling Indrani, taken almost two years ago when she was just learning to ride her first bicycle – a “Dora the Explorer” bike she received from Santa.
I forget how little she was, and when I look at this photo it makes my heart swell with love and wonder.
How did she get so big, so fast? What happened to that little girl with the little feet, and cute little dresses, and small hands, and deliciously-cute young face?
Where did the past two years go? What happened to the time?
My only answer is that life happened.
Growth. Work. Projects. Clients. Money. Business. Emails. Stuff.
But also: Cuddles. I love yous. Books. Movies. Laughs. Dinners. Walks. Rides. Family holidays.
It’s easy to beat ourselves up: We were never there as much as we wanted. We worked too much. We could’ve done more, been there more, given more.
I take peace from knowing that I’ve done my best, and each decision I made at the time was the best one I could make at that particular time.
I’m certain that I’ve soaked up as much of my children’s lives as I could in the time I’ve had with them so far. I have done my best to be present, to be a good father, and to listen to their little voices and get down on their level.
I’ve done my best, so far. I’ll continue to do my best.
My homeboy Al – Mr Einstein – was bang on the money with his quote. Life is like riding a bicycle. You get better with practice. And, if you stop, you fall over. So you gotta keep moving.
But the cost of continuous forward motion is that you never reflect. You never take stock of what you’ve accomplished, where your journey has taken you, and what you’ve learned.
I agree with Albert, but I also believe that it’s important to look over your shoulder once in a while. Moving forward does help us keep our balance, but without a glance in the rear-view occasionally, we can start to lose our way.
Keep moving. Keep your balance. But don’t be afraid to simply stop and fall over every now and then. While you’re on the ground, look behind you, and acknowledge how far you’ve come.
With love,
Israel. xo