Spooky Feed #48

Intelligence takes chance with limited data in an arena where mistakes are not only possible but also necessary. - Darwi Odrade

There's no secret to balance. You just have to feel the waves. - Darwi Odrade

I remember vividly the time when I was a kid, learning how to ride a bicycle. My dad was there, holding a firm grip on the right hand steer, supporting and steering the bike so as to not let me fall while riding. I was overwhelmed by this strange feeling, it cannot be described by words. It's like you are learning to do something that you have never done so before. The feeling you get when you are able to do something that you once couldn't, especially as a toddler and a young child. Like the feeling you get when you could finally stand firm and walk when you are just a child. Then everything was gone. Like a balloon burst. A comeback to reality from a dream. I was down leaning right-side on the floor with the once-heavy bike lying on me. My eyes went red and swollen and I was groaning with pain. Yes, you've got it. My dad released his grip. My dad asked me to try again, but I refused. Apparently I was afraid of getting hurt once more. I declined one time after another as he asked one time after another. Days went passed. After 'serious' consideration, I gave in to my dad's persuasion and tried again. How did you think I fare this time round? I'm sure most of you guys should know what happened. I fell again. In the same exact position. Why? Coz' my dad released his grip. Again. Time after time, I tried. Time after time I fell. Maybe not all the times I've fell in the exaxt same way but yes, indeed I fell stupidly and clumsily. You guys who had learned how to ride a bicycle should know what happened next. Yes, naturally and somehow I eventually picked up the skill and never once fell again. Well, maybe besides a few accidents... Now riding a bicycle seems so natural to me now that I can't even explain how I came to know how to ride. My body seems to work on it's own and by the time I know it, I'm already riding leisurely on the bike. It's just like how you sing the national anthem. Your mouth just sings on its own. Like your body just absorbs and memorises what to do. The purpose of this recount is to let you guys know something that is just too common. Mistakes are necessary. Especially for growth and improvement. If you never did fall while learning how to ride a bicycle, it's quite impossible for you to master the skill of cycling. A quote is "You don't learn how to cycle by paddling and steering. You learn by falling." Each time we fell, we got back up to try again, trying our best to not make the same mistake twice, feeling the balance and gaining control. Then finally we mastered it. And the courage to make mistakes and correct it so that you would avoid making the similar error again is of great importance to growth too. If you never wanted to fall, you couldn't have learned how to cycle. And you would forever be stuck riding the ever stable tricycle, unable to catch up with those already ahead riding with only two wheels. So if you made a mistake, no matter how serious or how minor, accept it, correct it and learn from it. Then there would be growth in you.