Find out how Writing Off a Defective Bike Taught Me Patience & Letting Go...
Have you had wanted something so bad that the gap between you and having it seemed immense? That once you released the impatience you felt and released any attachment to getting it, you actually got it? …And that time felt as though it passed quickly?
The beauty in letting go and patience is an ongoing theme in life. Now, I know that Life has and will deliver tougher challenges than waiting on a new bike – perhaps you’re currently in the midst of one right now – but hear me out:
Even in those challenges, finding moments of laughter, fun, or happiness can help elevate the heaviness these difficult moments bring…even if it’s for a brief moment.
As trite as it may sound, I love to use my bike to get around. So, when I upgraded my bike last year, I was excited to experience more adventures with it. However, that was not what Life had planned.
What I thought had been an unfortunate repair ended up being the start of many repairs, resulting in weeks without a bike. The final straw came when I dropped the bike off for what was originally planned as a simple-yet-annoying repair that turned into more “unforeseen” major repairs. To say I was annoyed and angry was an understatement.
After having four major repairs in a year, the bike essentially rebuilt with new parts, I was again without my bike – and so began my walks to the gym begrudgingly,
marinating in the drama as if I was a piece of meat waiting to go on the grill.
I was in a situation where I felt as though I had no control. No control over the timeline. No control over the state the bike was in. But then I began to think of the things that I did have control over….because, when you’re in those situations where you don’t have control, all you can do is control the controllables…which usually have to do with controlling how you show up and respond to the situation.
I decided I was no longer going to marinade in the shit-storm drama with the bike and changed my attitude to one of gratitude. I began to be grateful for the ability to walk to the gym. I was grateful for the great weather that allowed for an enjoyable walk to the gym. I began to create ways to make the walk fun.
Well, what could I do without my bike?
I can walk to the gym. Instead of riding to the beach, I can walk to a neighbourhood park. I began to enjoy the walk by creating content with photos and videos. I stopped to get a snack on my way home. I changed my route to and from the gym, which not only took 30 minutes off of my travel time, but it also allowed me the opportunity to see new streets, new sights and take appreciation for the city I’ve often breezed through on my way to-and-from destinations.
…because life isn’t so much the destination, it’s the journey along the way.
Rather than marinade in the negative thought pattern of a defective bike and being without it for close to two months, I switched my mindset to one of excitement for a new routine, and to one of “What can I do?” As humans, we find comfort and safety in our routines, which explains why we’ve become creatures to these habits. But what Life tosses up an opportunity to switch it up, you can easily switch up the upset to one of excitement.
Having gotten used to listening to podcasts on my rides, I pivoted to listen to podcasts on my walks. I also brought a creative component to those walks by taking photos and videos of the environment around me. And being the millennial that I am, I even brought an element of child-like fun to my walks home by stopping to get a snack on my way home. I switched up my route by exploring different streets that took me out of the past negative narrative I had of “walking to gym is what I did when I was broke and couldn’t afford the subway” to breathe new life into the walks and increase my gratitude for the city I live in. As my route changed, so did my mindset to one of “I really enjoy this walk, I’m choosing to walk” and instead of saying “I have to walk”, I changed one simple word to change it to “I get to walk”.
It’s in the choosing that we find accountability and agency that take us out of victimization mode
of this is happening to me and gives us something we can control and that is happen for me.
As I eased into this new routine and began to play and have fun with it, time seemed as though time was speeding up….and with ease. About two weeks into the new routine, the decision was made the bike was defective (well, duh) and that it was going to be replaced. This added a new element of excitement as I picked out my new bike, it was ordered it in, and I would soon have a new bike. This process took another two weeks, but I was beyond excited. I continued to play and have fun with this new routine of mine, the two weeks flew by. When I picked up my new bike, I was saddened that I wouldn’t need to walk to the gym anymore. So, I made the decision that my new routine would consist of walking to the gym on the weekends.
Life has a way of instilling in us lessons of patience, surrender and new rituals we otherwise would’ve missed along the journey had these challenges, setbacks, difficult times had not occurred. All while offering us momentary reprieves from the heaviness these moments bring while reminding us it’s okay to have some fun and laughter within the container of these experiences.
You may not be able to control the timeline of when things arrive in your life, but you can shorten the gap between the present moment and the next by releasing your focus on it and shifting it onto something else. When we bring an element of fun into our day-to-day, time has a magical way of shrinking.
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