Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Look Up and Paddle Hard

When i was 4 years old, I had a tricycle. I rode on it with all the gusto in the heart of a kid. I was happy, but I didn't like the paddling aspect of riding. It was "hard work" and tedious, so most times, I was pushed. I always needed help. Most times I begged for it. The cycle of dependency continued. A light push on a slope. Oh my! The downward roll was a thrill. A sure one. How I loved it. Now another problem, I always needed a slope. That means I was always returning to one spot. Static Movement.

Later on in life, I was too big to be on a tricycle. Learning how to ride a bicycle was the next thing to do. The next phase, so in a way i have graduated from the tricycle cadre. With all amount of youthful ecstasy and exuberance, I decided to learn how to use a bicycle. The only place I could get a bicycle to use was in my mum's village, where we go for holidays, once in about two years with my father's permission.

The next holiday, I was on my way to the village and next on the agenda was learning itself. One of my buddies decided to help me out;. He was a good rider. So we started the lessons. After the first trial he told me, "Don't look at the ground, if not you'll be scared and that will lead to loss of concentration. Look up and paddle hard." That advise to me was foolishness in a three-piece suit. The truth of the matter was that I wanted to learn riding in my own way. "How can I look up? I have to look down to see how I'm paddling" I fired back. Moreover, I thought to myself, that advice is from the village guy, I'm the one from town and I sure do have my way of doing things. With every thought and action of mine, I fought that principle of riding. The end result was that, I left the village after the holidays and didnt learn how to ride. This was way back in 1988.

Every time in class, when my mates talked about bicycles and their riding experience, I just excuse myself with the fact that " I didn't always have a bicycle when I was younger. I'm quite old now". Even when they offered to teach me the how of it, I declined. I was immobilized by my past failures. I never wanted to be laughed at. every break period, I watch others "fly" on their bikes. All I did was wish how I could be like them but to take the first step to be like them, I never ventured. i wish I could. I should have. All a bash of wishful thinking.

Then in 1995, I had private lessons in one of my teacher's house. The family had a bike and I watched the kids, young and old, strut their stuff on the bike. Some how I got into a private conversation with one of them and she told me she learned how to ride the previous year. Then it dawn on me that I wasn't late on learning. I know that you are not born with riding skills. You acquire it! I had no more excuses. Quickly, I confided in my buddy, Aniefiok Enoh, about my inadequacy. One evening we secured the bike for a private lesson and went out together. After my initial trials he noticed I had a problem. He stared at me eyeball-to-eyeball and said, "Believe you can do it and you'll do it. Don't look at the ground. Look up and paddle hard". That hit me like a thunderbolt.

I've heard that before or does Aniefiok stay in my mother's village? NO! He was only relaying a universal principle. I did as he said and that evening, I learned how to ride. That evening I got something I wouldn't trade for anything. It was the thrill of fulfillment. A delicious gladness and the unmistaken joy that swept my soul. A boyish grin that pushed my cheek upward was all over me and that grin I tell you could swallow a banana sideaways. That day, I realized I didn't need to be Jackie Chan, in order to ride a bicycle! I also learned from that experience that you don't wish success into being. YOu work at it. You look out for the underlying principle behind an operation, work wit it and with God on your side, success is scheduled. This is no magic. It's real. In order to get something that you don't have, you have to do something you have never done before. Get out of your comfort zone, stretch, strain, train, and aim. Before you know it, you are in. The Coliseum wasn't an accident, Faith Tabernacle, Ota was not wished into existence, Microsoft Corporation wasn't a mistake. Men worked on their dreams, they persisted, they brought forth and you are seeing it.

So let's come down to level ground. What's that dream of yours? That vision, that hope. Is it starting that business or proposing to that lady, going back to school? Then pick up the courage, cage the fear and do it. If it's hard, then do it hard. Enjoy the abundant life. Share in the thrill of fulfillment. This phenomenon is inexplicable but let me try to describe it. I's flying without wings, It's waking up to see that your dream was real, i's walking on air with the stars beneath you.

I will see you on the mountaintop where I'm heading. To get there, Remember... "Don't look at the ground. LOOK UP AND PADDLE HARD"

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