Getting Back On The Horse Again (In My Case A Bicycle)

by Yvonne Ruke Akpoveta

Last weekend I decided to try something on my bucket list and at the same time test a theory. Not having ridden a bicycle for over 25 years or more, I made a mental note to add ‘getting on a bike again’ to my bucket list of items I wanted to do in this lifetime. Also, there is the popular theory that you never forget how to ride a bike that I thought would be fun to test.

However, I had no intention of putting the theory to test by myself, so I enlisted a friend who regularly rides to coach and provide me with moral support. Come our appointed date, l oiled the chain and pumped the tires of the bike under close supervision and rolled the bike into an open school ground. The first attempt was with my friend trying to hold on to the bike at my request so I don’t fall. The attempt was dismal and lasted but five seconds.

Yvonne on Bicycle

So I decided to truly give the theory a test and ride on my own, and away I went at the push of the pedal. Wobbly of course, but I did not fall off and kept riding. Not only did the theory prove correct, but it was a great reminder that sometimes we easily stop doing one thing or the other we were passionate about, we give up on our business and career dreams, we stop doing those things we enjoyed doing etc. We forget about them, and they become a distant memory that we feel we may no longer be capable of for one reason or the other.

In my book Change Your Mindset, and Change Your Life, I talk about the bicycle theory and why we always remember how to ride a bicycle no matter how long we’ve been off. It is because we consciously made an effort to learn to ride a bike until the process sank into our subconscious and unconscious. Once something is in our unconscious, it easily comes back to our conscious.

Whatever you have put on the backburner, it is not too late to revisit it. You still have it in you to get back on the bike or horse, and go. Take the first step, and everything starts to slowly come back until it becomes your new norm. 

Have you got a bucket list? Have you fallen off track and need to get back on again? Would love to hear your story.

N/B I have both very small and huge items in my bucket list, and glad to have this little one done. Thanks Tolu for being there with me.

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