Shalom Aleichem!
One evening this week, I took an evening bike ride with Tzipah and Shoshi. We rode to Flushing Meadows Park, headed towards the Unisphere, rode around the Zoo, and “zipped back around,” as Shoshi said.
At one point in the ride, we came to a hill. Shoshi tried to ride up it, but couldn’t make it. She got off her bike and walked it to the top. When she arrived at the top, she told me, “I was in gear 1 for the hill!”
After looking at her bike and ascertaining that gear 1 was, in fact, the most difficult gear to pedal in, I explained to her that gear 1 is not the proper gear for going up a hill.
For the next hill, I suggested she try gear 7.
She did. And it worked.
Tzipah asked, “What lesson can we learn from this?”
In addition to discussing it with Tzipah and Shoshi, I also mentioned it during my weekly visit to the Franklin Nursing Home. The residents enjoy hearing about my family, so I told them the story and posed Tzipah’s question to them.
Here is a compilation of some possible lessons. Please feel free to email me if you have any other ideas.
1. You need to know which is the correct gear to be in. This is along the lines of knowing which is the right tool for the job;
2. Going uphill takes time;
When this suggestion was posed at the Nursing Home, one of the residents spoke up. “I’ve got an uphill battle,” she said. “I have breast cancer, and it’s very difficult at times.”
3. Sometimes, to go uphill, you need to change your way of thinking;
4. The correct gear/tool makes the job easier and more efficient;
And my personal lesson:
5. Take some time out of your busy schedule to spend some time with the family, get some fresh air, and get your muscles pumping! You’ll be glad you did!
Shabbat Shalom,
Shaul
