Conquering your fears

Ok, in a previous post I finally confessed, somewhere hidden amongst a million facts about me, that I couldn't ride a bike :( I am happy to announce that this fact is no longer true! On a gorgeous Monday afternoon after work my friends and I could not resist the charm of a Korean spring day - gorgeous with all its blossoms, so we met at Duryu Park for an afternoon of biking. I had been psyching myself up for a week (well and the last 15 years) for this great and glorious day.

At Duryu park, you can rent bikes, rollerblades or skateboards for a small fee of 3000 won (R20-R25) an hour to use in and around the park. Its pretty useful for us with small apartments or staying for a short time in the country, you don't need to invest a lot of money on a bike you  never use, so I was pretty chuffed to hear about this. Being the oldest and the only one who couldn't ride a bike, I kind of felt bad at first because I really didn't want my friends to have to babysit me and take turns to push me around while I scream frantically losing my balance and possibly crashing down.  So I put on a brave face and rented my own bike (as opposed to the tandem bikes) trying not to show the owners of the rental place that I could potentially destroy their money making asset.

A little demonstration, some words of encouragement and a short prayer, I was on the bike wiggling about trying to find my balance. I needed to count myself down for take off every time but with all that cheering I was in cruise mode in no time. I was just screaming and shouting for joy!!! All those years I was in fear of this 2 wheeled instrument but now this very thing was bringing me so much joy.

whats happening?

getting the hang of it

emergency brake!!

Chitsi riding a clear distance away for her own safety

Keke cheering me on

pure joy 

Victory Lap

riding with the big girls now :)

Coincidentally our pastor at church this very Sunday had been preaching about courage.  Don't be consumed by your fear, whatever you are afraid of, eventually just go for it. It probably isn't as big or as terrifying as you have built it up to be :)

Next on the list - learning how to play chess! any takers?

Photos courtesy of Christine :) my apologies for not being photogenic during this particular activity