Bridge over Troublesome Waters

Today little bear found a bridge across the troublesome river. But it was a very different bridge than the other one little bear has seen. That bridge was made out of concrete and metal. It was very solid.

This bridge is a little bit different. It doesn't look very solid at all. In fact, it looks quite rickety. It's made out of wood and cables. The wood looks kind of old... the cables look kind of rusted. Ohhh... little bear isn't too sure about this bridge!

He sat and looked at it for a while. He watched people walk across it... and it jiggled and squeaked. He watched people jog across it... and it swung wildly and rattled alarmingly. Ohhh... boy. Little bear noticed a sign on the bridge that seemed to indicate the authorities weren't too sure about this bridge either... "PFD's must be worn". In case you don't know... a PFD is a personal flotation device... a life-jacket... which seems like an odd thing to wear when crossing a bridge... unless the authorities were thinking the bridge might collapse at any moment.

Little bear watched the people and none of them were wearing PFD's at least not on top of their clothing. They were also much heavier than little bear... so after much thought, little bear decided to give it a try.

He waited until the coast was clear and there weren't any heavy people coming and then he inched his little bear feet out onto the planks. Nothing... not a squeak not a jiggle. He tiptoed out a bit farther and everything was still OK... With some trepidation, little bear walked into the middle of the bridge. He had done it! It was all down-hill from here.

Whew! Thank goodness little bear made it across the river... without falling into the drink. He took his courage in his little paws and did it. Which is a good lesson for us as well... sometimes things look very scary and we can find all sorts of reasons not to do something but really... it's just a matter of taking out courage in our hands and moving through our fear.

Little bear is a courageous and brave little bear. He's not afraid to try new things... he's not afraid to move through his fear...