Blog 2: Mindset Makeover Monday 7.1.24

THE GIANT ON THE BANANA-SEAT BIKE  

Chyle, Lemme tell you a story. Picture this: I grew up as the baby of four kids and the only girl in the Krewe. To say I was very sheltered and overprotected, mainly by my parents, is an understatement of the century. Their grip on me, “their little princess,” was tighter than the skin on a Patton’s hot sausage link.  

The age gap between my brothers and me was too large for us to be regular playmates, so I played alone. Being boys and their ages being closer together, they had a little more leeway than me and each other as friends.  

I remember watching them ride bikes, play ball, and other games in the street with neighborhood kids as I longed to do the same. I’d ask my parents why I couldn’t join in. Understandably, I was told I was too young and I’d get my chance when I was older. However, I repeatedly heard how dangerous it was for “me” to play or do anything in the street so fear began to grip my heart.  

One Christmas, when I was eight, I got a beautiful banana-seat bike. I was only allowed to ride on the sidewalk two houses past mine and back in either direction, so I rode my bike as much as I was allowed, as some friends joined me.  As time passed, they could move to the streets with upgraded bikes, but I was still on the sidewalk, riding my small banana-seat bike as my knees hit the handlebars. Years passed, nah, remember, I feel like I was born at the height of 5’10, so get a glimpse of that visual. Before long, kids from all around the neighborhood would come to see “the giant on the banana-seat bike. Well, needless to say, the rules changed drastically when I got a little older.   At the age of 13, my parents still wouldn’t allow me to ride in the street, not even on my block. It wasn’t as if I lived on the tracks of the Indy 500!  So, I became too fearful and unsure to attempt riding a larger bike, especially on my cobblestone sidewalk. To avoid being ridiculed, I stopped riding until after graduating from High School.  

I eventually got a 10-speed English racer, cloaked with my superwoman cape, determined to compensate for lost time. I, who hadn’t been on a bike since my kid banana-seat bike, made the unwise decision to ride my new bike to meet up with a few of my cousins, 3 miles away. My heart was beating out of my chest in anxiety as I ventured on this risky journey in the street for the first time ever.  Sadly, between you and I, when fear overtook me, I rode on the sidewalk or walked with my bike in tow, but I finally made it! We began to ride on Esplanade Ave on a Saturday morning, which was busy, especially for a novice like me. After a few minutes, I thought I was over the hump of having defeated fear, laughing and talking with them as we rode. Suddenly, I didn’t hear them anymore but could only hear and feel the heat of a loud motor. HONK, HONK came the loud and startling sound of a city bus directly upon me. As I turned in horror, I jumped off my bike and left it in the street in front of the bus. The driver, passengers and my cousins laughed at my expense. Me, not so much! I was done with bike riding and asked my brother to pick me up and that bike which I gave to him. 

Fast-forward a decade. After being married with two children, I knew I had to face and defeat that fear, and I did just that!  

LIMITING BELIEF – Since I missed out on learning how to ride a bike in my childhood, it’s too late to learn as an adult, especially without experiencing more humiliation 

 OUTCOME - The limitations imposed on me by my parents' fear became my reality in childhood and continued to adulthood. 

CLOSE – To move forward, let’s IDENTIFY any limiting beliefs imposed upon you or embraced by you that may have hindered the things you desire.   

Love Karen 

Your Mindset Makeover Guru 

ELEVATING MINDSETS, ONE THOUGHT AT A TIME