
A few days ago I went to a family lunch and shared that I was looking into buying a bike. They mentioned that they had a bike they hadn’t used in years and they showed it to me. It’s a beautiful vintage bike as you can see from the above photo, and I’m so grateful they offered it to me. It’s a man’s bike and it’s kind of too tall for me, though. They suggested I gave it a try, since no one was using it. After work yesterday I stopped by to pick it up and to ride it back home. I checked my friend’s site www.ridethecity.com, to get the safest route in Brooklyn, and I followed it.
Before I tell you how the journey went, let me share my own journey with riding bicycles. I did ride as a child and a little bit as a teenager, but maybe over twenty years had passed until I tried again. I was at a friend’s beach house in Rhode Island a few years ago, and her granddaughter wanted to ride her bike and she invited me to go with her. When I got on the bike, fear took over, and I told her I couldn’t do it. She said, “tell yourself: Yes, I can, Yes, I can, Yes, I can.” She was seven years old at the time. She also gave me some great tips, I honestly didn’t remember how to get started and I’m still using her tips to this day. I loved it! So, every year since, I have made a point to rent a bike with a friend, at least once, and ride it either at Central Park or by the Riverside Park. Every time, I walked the bike through traffic and then rode it where I felt it was safe.

Do you ever find yourself going on a loop of negative thoughts leading to more negativity and tears? Do you feel like crawling under the bed and just crying at times?
Recently, during a coaching session I recommended that my client approached her sales or lack thereof through two different ways. The first one was the practical one, the action steps, the marketing strategies, the social media posts, the reaching out, the PR, etc. I gave her tangible steps to take to move forward and to get her work in front of those who would be interested in buying it.
March is Women’s History Month in the USA, and March 8th is the International Women’s Day. In Brazil the day is celebrated with women getting flowers, chocolate, messages and being appreciated.
During a 2-week journey to Peru, we visited Puno, Uros Island, Cusco, Urubamba and Machu Picchu. We visited temples and many Inca sites. To get to some of them, a lot of hiking was required. In the beginning of the trip, my fear of heights showed up and almost paralyzed me. The only reason I made it through and back was because of those who showed up in a big way to hold my hand, to cheer me on, or to give me invaluable advice – your feet know what to do, trust yourself, don’t look down, look at your feet only, you can do it! The fear showed up again in other hikes that were not so difficult but yet scary. Again I counted on others for support, encouragement, and a calm presence which helped me to keep going.