“Life is like a ten-speed bike.
Most of us have gears we never use”~ Charles Schultz

When you first rode a bike – chances are it was a ‘Big Wheel’ kiddie bike or a tricycle! Then you graduated to a real bike – with training wheels to learn how to keep your balance.

Some of you may be familiar with these wooden starters ‘‘walk-bikes’, designed for very young kids to get ready for a real bicycle! These ‘walk bikes’ have no pedals, no gears, brakes, no accessories. They are safe, do not go very fast and are perfect for absolute beginners to learn how to balance.

In our lives when it comes to living our dreams and goals or having enough money to do all of things on our wish list… a walk bike is where we begin. We can keep our balance so to speak in our lives and ride the bike. It is the perfect place to get under way.

So let’s imagine that you are cyclist and you have a long trip to make but you only use one or two gears the entire journey. This makes it more difficult than it needs to be. The range of gears on a 10 speed bike are there to gain efficiency along your trip and not to use them would be rather foolish because you would get tired faster, need more recovery time and possibly cause or increase injuries to your muscles and joints.

Like the 10 speed bike, you have many gears to choose from, however , you may be only using a couple. Some use two gears, fast and really fast! If this is you – your day is in high gear, peddling at a blinding speed as you approach your work day at break neck speed and continue to pedal fast and furious as you go home, prepare dinner, do laundry, feed and bathe the kids, help with homework, do some household chores and then sit down, turn the TV on and crash before you even get through the show you wanted to watch. Sound familiar?

The reality is that you won’t last at one or two high gears for very long – the price you pay is often shows up in physical ways, headaches, insomnia, weight gain, high blood pressure, not to mention irritability, low sex drive, etc… you are most likely not enjoying your life and your relationships may be suffering and you feel disconnected with your dreams –and goals.

At the other end – if you are operating in low gear; your two speeds are slow and slower. You just can’t seem to find the energy to do anything; you sit and vegetate in front of the TV, at work you tend to do the bare minimum to get by, etc. At low gear, you will often feel sluggish, and wonder where your get and go – got up and went! This also shows up physically as weight gain, high blood pressure, depression, feeling left out, feelings of not belonging, low sex drive, irritability, and no real goals for the future.

Here’s the good news – like the 10 speed bike – you are equipped with a range of gears, however you may be feeling stuck in the habit of only using a couple of gears. When you do not access and use all of your gears you become ineffective and unproductive in both body and mind and life feels like a chore rather than the joy that it is supposed to be.

It is vital that you constantly and consciously shift gears to maintain a healthy balance of spirit and body. When you do this you are more efficient and happier.

I challenge you starting today to observe and note what gears YOU are using. Are you only using one or two basic gears? Is your overuse of one or two gears setting you up for a less than happy experience …Or the under use of all the gears influencing your results in your life? Think about how this will impact you in the long term and consider trying out all the gears that you have available to you.

You may not be sure which gear you should be on, but jump on, experiment, shift gears, play around and see what works for you. Remember just because a gear feels odd or uncomfortable at first does not mean it is the wrong gear for you to be in, you have to give each gear a chance.

So imagine all the possibilities that you could achieve if you had a real bike, with pedals, and gears, and brakes. Imagine what you could achieve, what goals you could reach without much effort. In fact – the more gears you have the more the range of motion you have to pedal.  

Go on – go for a ride with a new attitude – I dare you!

Be prosperous!

Shari