You Just have to Keep Believing

be·lief (bĭ-lēfˈ)

(Source)
noun

1.The mental act, condition, or habit of placing trust or confidence in another: My belief in you is as strong as ever.


2.Mental acceptance of and conviction in the truth, actuality, or validity of something: His explanation of what happened defies belief.


3.Something believed or accepted as true, especially a particular tenet or a body of tenets accepted by a group of persons.



Every parent has belief that their child, right from birth, will achieve their milestones.  You know the ones, the first smile, the first word, the first moment sitting and so on.  When Hayden got ill and became disabled those beliefs of achievement disappeared.  Sadly the prognosis was such we were told he would never walk or talk again.  After that intial period of grief a stark reality set in and the goals for Hayden were ones of recovery always thinking how much.  Right from the moment he remembered how to sit up he rode a bike.  The foot propelled variety he managed before he remembered how to walk.

Fast forwarding 5 years and Hayden still loves riding bikes.  Luckily he is very small for his age and has been able to ride our tricycle for many years.  He also has riden a bicycle with stablisers but sure was not very stable but let him ride it too. 

So that brings me to last week.  He, unencouraged, unaided decided he would get the little bike with no stabilisers out of the shed and ride it.  I don't know how much trying or how many times he fell before he came riding around to me getting dinner to show me.  He was laughing and calling out to me while riding the bike.

Naturally there is never a learning to ride a bike moment without the successes.

and the odd backwards step or two
 

and disaster (luckily the plants were very forgiving)

 

So off the bike shop to get a new and more robust helmet to prevent any potential new head injuries.

 

Finally the message for us as a family is that we should remember that for Hayden this was a new skill.  It was something he was unable to do in the before times.  We should provide him with opportunities to continue to learn things and never stop believing that he can continue to discover new skills and talents.