Last weekend I took the Basic Rider Course at WITC to get my
class M Motorcycle Operator’s license. I
was somewhat nervous, having never been on a motorcycle before. But I can ride a bike, so hey, it can’t be
that different, right? Within in my
first half hour on the bike I fell over on it.
I now have the bruises and scuffed boots and a great story to tell about
the time I wiped out on my cycle.
Perhaps I should have consulted the ‘Everything Motorcycle
Book’, wherein I would have learned that you should not apply the brakes while
making a sharp turn on your motorcycle.
Had I done some preliminary prep work, I may have earned my Class M
Operator license.
How many times have you jumped into a project without the
proper prep work? Most of us find the
preparatory work the boring part. We
want to get to it, make things happen, be finished, and succeed. But a big part of success is being prepared
for success.
Being an absolute beginner at anything can be very
intimidating. You don’t know the
terminology. How should you hold the
knitting needles, or the baseball, or the clutch? What does knit 1 purl 2 really mean? How much water is involved in painting with watercolors? Why is it called canning when I am using a jar?
Years ago, people often learned a skill from someone else in
the home. Maybe grandma taught you how to knit or crochet. Dad threw the ball around with you after dinner, or Mom taught you how to back bread or can. Today with two parents working and grandma
and grandpa living in their own homes longer, many of these skills are no
longer passed along and we are on our own if we want to learn them.
.
I will be retaking that class M license test. But first I will review all I learned and practice, practice, practice. Maybe on a scooter.
