Reflection
Out and about on the Bike Wed 14th November 2012
Today I decided to take the bike out. The weather was lovely for this time of year
and all the streets were littered with great splashes of colour as I trudged
through all the leaves. As I happily rode along I thought to myself
how much being on a bike is a bit like life.
In fact the bike is a kind of analogy for life itself. There are similarities between both.
The first thing that strikes me about the bike is that in
order to steer and stay on, we must not veer to either right or left, but stay
in the centre, so that tells me no extremes and to always aim for balance and
the middle ground. Do I always listen to
my own advice? No. Am I wise and have
all the answers? No, but I can become more aware and strive to find a better
way, and I can enjoy exploring the
route.
The second thing that came to me while out on the bike,
every time I avoid the uphill route, and seek to only have the pleasant easy routes,
I cannot escape the fact that these downhills will inevitably lead to their
opposite and I will have to face the
uphill part of the journey to get to my destination, and so I would Iike to
leave you with two poems on these themes, one that I wrote myself called The
Middle Ground, and the other called Binaries, by Anthony Cronin.
The Middle Ground By
Rachael Stanley
I recall a voice from years ago,
a yoga teacher sharing wisdom with his pupils,
‘Where there’s freedom, there’s balance
and where there’s balance, there’s freedom.’
a yoga teacher sharing wisdom with his pupils,
‘Where there’s freedom, there’s balance
and where there’s balance, there’s freedom.’
In the middle, between two opposites
like a weighing scales measuring out
an even measure,
or like a rider on a bicycle
who does not lean to either side,
but balances in the middle,
or like a special envoy on a mission
of peace between two nations at war.
like a weighing scales measuring out
an even measure,
or like a rider on a bicycle
who does not lean to either side,
but balances in the middle,
or like a special envoy on a mission
of peace between two nations at war.
The whole of life strives towards this balance,
‘Where there’s balance, there’s freedom,
and where there’s freedom, there’s balance.’
‘Where there’s balance, there’s freedom,
and where there’s freedom, there’s balance.’
Binaries By Anthony Cronin
Everything we experience,
Everything we feel,
Has its opposite;
As
Day has night,
Heat has cold;
Youth, age;
Dark, light.
This is surely somehow significant
And so propitious
As to seem benignant.
Consider the encompassing light,
Revealing, defining, enriching;
Repealing the disabling dark.
How marvellous the light.
But then there is also the dark,
Concealing, hiding, removing;
Nullifying the cruel clarities
Conducive to a sleep and a forgetting.
Who could live without dark?
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