The Bike Man.

Today I scooted over to my hometown to meet a dear friend whom was passing along a book by Dr. Leaf. Sitting outside Maggie’s, chewing on an apple the sound of shattering glass caught my attention. An elderly man biking with his recycling had lost a bungee cord. Magazines, glass, strawberry cartons – all over the road. My immediate response was to drop my pack and help. Picking up the mess scattered across the hot pavement, I could feel the embarrassment the man was feeling. So,I did what I do best and offered to take some of his load. Not knowing what I would do with it, but just knowing I had to offer to take it off his teetering bike stack. The man refused, he says “I am the bike man, I do this all the time I just didn’t balance my load correctly this time”. That got me thinking. Much like this man, we may be carrying too much. Yes, often we can handle it. We know just where to place the egg carton, maybe see that as our workload. We know just where to place the jam jars, see that as your social life. You’ve got a system and you don’t want anyone messing with it. Even with that being so, whatever be teetering on the back of your bike – no matter how often you carry it around. You still might come to a crashing halt at some point. If you come to that, don’t find embarrassment in that moment. Find relief in the help – let those who come along with willing hearts to help you with that load. Bringing better balance to all that is there, setting you up for a smooth ride ahead. You don’t have to hand over any of your load, like this man did not want to do. But still, don’t find shame in getting help making the load easier to carry. You’ll find balance again. Just maybe with a little bit of assistance from those standing along the side of your journey.

- B