'Looking up' offers many benefits

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Jeff Kubiak
  • 86th Flying Training Squadron commander
Remember when you were a kid riding your bike against the wind? You'd put your head down and just pedal as fast and hard as your whole body could.

There probably is some aerodynamic benefit, even at bicycle speeds, to riding this way, but all I remember is thinking, "If I put my head down and don't think about how hard this is or how slow I seem to be going, the next thing I know, I'll be there."

Despite its benefits, there are a couple of real dangers associated with this "put your head down and just pedal" posture.

I found this out the hard way as a youngster when I rode my bike smack into the back end of a parked car because I didn't look up often enough to see it. I'm sure I passed several friends along the way that I didn't wave to because I never saw them.

Who knows what other really cool things I missed because I didn't look up often enough?

The holidays are an excellent opportunity for all of us to "look up." For most of us, the wind won't be blowing so hard. Look up long enough to enjoy the people you've been pedaling alongside all year. Look up to see your family and friends that maybe have not received enough of your attention. Stop and celebrate the incredible hurdles we've overcome as individuals, as a unit and as a nation during the past year.

Look up to see just what an incredibly important job we do and how extraordinarily well we do it.

The new year will be here soon enough, and it will be back to pedaling hard into a brisk wind. Take every opportunity to look up, now and always. Look up to see where you are going and make sure you are on course, wave to your friends and avoid those parked cars. (Courtesy of Air Education and Training Command News Service)