Inspiration on a Hello Kitty Bike

by Kris Pitcher

A rush of pink whizzed by me and before I knew it I was racing inspiration on a Hello Kitty bike. I should clarify I was neither inspiration, nor was I on the Hello Kitty bike.

The back of her purple shorts said CHEER, and her pig-tails bounced out from under her pink helmet. She was doing great until she came up on the big hill. Well, it was big for being so little.

At the top of the hill her mom called, "Walk it out. You can do this. Walk it out." She jogged in place while she waited for this pint sized pig-tailed girl to make it up the hill.

A little wobbly, I wasn't sure if I should power walk my way past her. But as I saw another hill coming I figured I could get ahead.

They weren't far behind me. And mom was encouraging her all the way. No baby talk for this tyke. What goes up must come down, and sure enough going down hill is scary. "Ride on the grass so you don't have to use your brakes," mom advised.  A whimper, and then a confident, "You're right mom, I can do this!" came from the girl.

Pretty soon this Hello Kitty two-wheeler was long gone and well on her way to knowing she can do things in this world. We all need encouragement. We need to hear we can do it, keep going, you're almost there...we need people who believe in us and tell it to us straight.

The exchange reminds me we need to be patient with ourselves and with others. We need to extend some encouragement and inspiration when we see someone struggling to stay on track. And that's why I'm always on the lookout for inspiration, but I like it best when it finds me...on a Hello Kitty bike.