The Art of Balance: Lessons from a Bike Ride
Have you ever watched a mountain biker or cyclist move effortlessly along a challenging trail, weaving through obstacles as if it’s second nature? What if life is like that bike ride? Today’s post is about balance.
The Rider
Imagine somebody you’ve seen riding a bike. Where are they riding it? What type of bike are they riding? Are they riding a road bike on a long winding highway? Maybe they’re riding a mountain bike through a desert, forest, or an intense downhill urban track. Maybe it’s a road bike or mountain bike being ridden through the city. Who’s riding the bike? Is it a child riding their bike to or from school? Before any of these riders mastered riding, they had to master the art of balance.
Attaining Balance
However you imagine somebody riding a bike, they had to learn to ride it at some point. Some take to it quickly, others need more time. Some start with training wheels, while others leap straight into balancing on their own. We each had to learn to ride a bike and balance ourselves. When we think of balance and bike riding, we often think of the learning phase. We learned how to keep our balance, and then we started riding. That’s an oversimplification of the process though.
Maintaining Balance
While we did initially learn to keep our balance, it’s important to remember that we’ve also fallen down. Likely, the first time we got up on two wheels. What about the first time you rode off a curb, rode on a new terrain, rode in traffic, or when you landed that sweet jump? You weren’t just learning to get your balance, you were also learning to keep your balance.
You see, somebody doesn’t simply attain their balance and then keep it, they maintain it throughout their ride. Balance isn’t something you just get and have, you have to work to maintain it.
Facing Obstacles
Let’s revisit the bike rider that you imagined in the beginning. What were they doing? Were they riding a mountain bike through a desert track? Were they riding through the city? What obstacles would potentially knock them over? The mountain biker will likely encounter sharp turns, switchbacks, jumps, trees, bushes, and many other obstacles. The rider in the city will encounter other vehicles, doors, traffic, people, curbs, construction, and many other obstacles. They didn’t just jump on their bike and start riding. They had to get their balance, and then keep their balance in the face of obstacles, while continuing to move forward.
Our lives are much the same. We think of balance as something that we get, and until we get it, we don’t have it – even if we experience it for a short while. We often think, “I guess I didn’t have balance” when we are simply experiencing a moment out of balance. The truth is that we’re all capable of balance, we just have to work to maintain it.
Falling and Getting Back Up
Picture your rider again. It’s very likely that at some point they’re going to fall. Something will have caused them to lose their balance enough that they either start to fall and catch themselves, or they completely fall and crash. When they do, they get back up and continue. In some cases, the rider may likely choose to take that challenge on again and successfully complete it without falling.
Danny Macaskill is a professional mountain bike rider known for his spectacular stunts and perseverance. His viral videos showcase mountain biking at its best – filled with spectacular maneuvers, and at times, spectacular crashes. In this video, he even takes a child along for the ride. The story demonstrates both the thrill of the ride. Watch through the end and see how he recovers from the inevitability of falling. Despite the falls, he always gets back up and tries again.
Even the best riders fall. It may be for different reasons that riders that are just starting, but the principle is the same – maintain your balance and get back up when you fall. We all lose our balance and fall – sometimes gracefully and with control. Sometimes we fall in spectacular fashion. However, we can choose to get back up, continue, and try again.
The Paths We Ride
Our lives are much like that of the bike rider. Some rides, like some times in our lives, are more intense than others. Sometimes because we choose to take on challenges, sometimes because it’s a matter of forces or challenges that we didn’t see coming.
Sometimes it’s fun, sometimes it’s about survival. But we don’t just attain balance, we maintain it in the face of challenges and obstacles. Some of those obstacles we choose, and some we don’t. We don’t always get to choose the paths that we ride.
Choosing Your Path
When we do choose our paths, we might choose to take it easy for a while. Sometimes we might choose to do something more challenging. However, if we continually choose the easy path, we’ll never gain the skills and balance needed to navigate the more difficult, and even more fun and rewarding, paths.
Maintaining Balance
We see what maintaining balance looks like for the bike rider. What does it look like in your life? Here are just a few examples:
In relationships, balance might mean navigating between giving support and setting boundaries. Healthy relationships require balancing empathy and your own needs without tipping too far into self-neglect or even overdependence.
In work, it might mean managing ambition with rest – balancing professional responsibilities with personal time. It’s not about perfectly dividing your time, but learning to prioritize and adapt when work demands more attention, or when personal life needs some extra care.
In health, it may mean balancing your physical health with your personal well-being. Over focusing on one often leads to neglecting the other. Sometimes, they go together perfectly. Your mental and physical health should support each other, not try to overpower the other.
In finances, it may mean balancing saving for the future with spending to enjoy life in the present. It’s about being disciplined while still allowing for some spontaneity and joy. You want to manage momentum while making deliberate choices.
As you reflect on balance in your life, here’s a question to consider: What does balance look like for you, and how do you maintain it through life’s twists and turns?
Final Thoughts
Choose to maintain your balance and keep moving forward. Choose the paths that continue to challenge you. Don’t be afraid to fall. When you do, dust yourself off, get back up, and get back to it. As you do you’ll find yourself making progress – probably more than you imagined you would.
The ride won’t always be smooth, and it may never be perfect, but every fall is an opportunity to rise. With persistence and purpose, you’ll move forward creating a journey that’s as extraordinary as it is uniquely yours.
Ready to Maintain Your Balance?
Life, like a bike ride, is about maintaining balance through every twist, turn, and obstacle. That’s why I created the My Purpose Planners and Journals. They’re designed to help you navigate your personal journey with clarity and purpose. Whether you’re reflecting on your values, setting meaningful goals, or planning your next steps, these tools are here to support you in staying steady and moving forward. Find the balance you need to thrive—because the ride is worth it.
