A couple of weeks ago I spent my Saturday morning at a bike park in Ortigas Center. (It’s actually a main thoroughfare that gets converted to a bike park every weekend.) It’s basically a bike park where parents or aunts and uncles take their kids and go biking for recreation. Bike rentals are available, making it so convenient, especially for those who do not own bicycles.

That day I didn’t have my nieces and nephews with me. They probably would have complained because of the excruciating heat. However, I had a group of friends with me, and we had a couple of adult friends who didn’t know how to ride a bicycle, and some of our friends were out to teach them how to ride one.

This whole biking thing was setup because our friend, Camille, wanted to learn how to ride a bicycle. Camille is an IT practitioner who has been in the workforce for a few years now. She has in fact already accomplished a number of things in her life. Yet, she decides to spend a Saturday morning learning something she never did when she was young. Something she may not learn anymore, or something she surely will find difficulty learning at her age.

Learning is not easy, especially at a certain age, and after a number of things we have already done in life. The easiest thing is to keep doing what we already know, and to just try getting better at it. That does not take a lot of guts, a crossing of borders, or any major discomfort. Learning something new does. It puts us in a position where we actually need another person — to teach us, to guide us, to show us the way. Yes, learning is not easy, it is humbling, but it is very rewarding, and it opens opportunities for relationships to be built.

Think of your life. What is one thing you wanted to learn when you were young that you never got to? What one thing do you do can you get better at, with further training and lessons? Is there something you think you could only try in your dreams? (That would be dancing for me.) Is there a class you have been meaning to attend?

Learn something new. Another thing you can do for leisure and recreation. Take your baby steps at living life to the full. Start somewhere. Take swimming lessons. Learn to play a musical instrument. Study dance. Or perhaps, you too can learn to ride a bicycle.

When it comes to learning something new, we are never too old.