Fill the Air in Your Bike Tires Regularly
So I bought a bike yesterday, and the gentleman who owned the bike shop was very helpful. Before he even showed me any bikes, he asked me a lot of questions, which prompted me to ask him this, “How long can I expect my bike to last? I mean, the more I maintain it, just like my car, the longer it should last, right?”
He said, “Let me tell you something very important. For a car, you only need to fill up your tires with air every few months. On the other hand, the very best thing you can do for your bike is to fill the tires everyday.” I was taken aback. I said surprisingly, “Everyday?! Keeping a bike maintained is harder than I thought!” In which he replied, “Yes, everyday. Unlike a car in which the air bleeds very slowly, the air in bike tires bleeds very quickly.”
Later in the day I got to thinking about this (and thinking about getting a good pump!). I thought about how the same is so true for our own well-being. Let’s face it. There is negativity everywhere. Sometimes it even seems as if it’s inescapable. There’s negativity on TV, in the news, on the road with frustrated drivers, in our families, in our circle of friends, with our co-workers, and many other places and with people that we frequent with on a daily basis! I like to think of this as the air bleeding from our tires slowly everyday. As the day goes on and as we “bleed” more “air,” it makes for a “less smooth ride.”
There’s a saying, “You can’t control what goes on around you, but you can control your response to it.” In the same way, I can’t control the constant air that will bleed slowly from my tires everyday, but I can control how often I fill my tires with air. Just as we can’t control the negativity that surrounds us and saps us of our “air” everyday, we can continue to fill ourselves with air to remain in a positive, optimistic state all day long.
What are some ways that you can fill your mind with positivity everyday? Maybe it’s reading something inspirational every morning. Maybe it’s switching the station on your TV or in your car when the depressing news comes on. Maybe it’s not watching TV at all. Maybe it’s not listening the to radio in the car, but rather turning your car into a classroom with positive, uplifting audio books as you commute to work and back home. Maybe it’s taking a hard look at your associations and realizing who saps the positivity out of you, as well as who fills you on a daily basis.
Just as I have my clients ask themselves this question when making a food choice: “Will this choice move me closer to my goals or away from my goals,” the same is true for what and whom we invite into our lives. Keep filling your mind with things that will move you forward on your journey of self-improvement. Forgetting to fill my bike tires with air everyday for a week may not look like they’ve lost any air, but once I try to take it for a ride and put pressure on it, I see that it will not be able to handle it. Be proactive with inviting positivity into your life everyday and I guarantee that your journey will be smoother and more gratifying. Enjoy the ride!
