The wonderful tale of Mrs Armitage

Do you know the story of Mrs Armitage on Wheels by Quentin Blake?

I had the book when I was little and I loved it. In French, it was called “Armeline Fourchedrue”. A name as fantastic as the character of the book. The story is about this adorable (and sightly illuminated) lady who decides to pimp her bicycle. She gradually adds many fun and useful features to it: a tool box, a little wash basin, a picnic basket, a seat for her dog…It all seems amazing and she feels fabulous riding it, until she has an accident. The bike was completely overloaded, and everything explodes (with a quite dramatic and apocalyptic illustration)!

Here you can see Mrs “Armeline” Armitage on her beautifully pimped bicycle. I personally was completely envious of it when I was little. Ok, still now, …maybe.

Anyway, you get the morale of the story: if you want to overload your bike over its intended capacity, everything will get ruined…it will explode. Same goes with life: it’s great to push yourself, but don’t overdo it…or your bike (head!) will explode! Know yourself and what you can take in order to do things well.

This is a lesson I am learning at the moment, so I thought I would share. It’s hard to realize it, and sometimes it needs to come from someone else because the sail on your bike is blinding you. But it’s good to hear, and good to reflect about. In any situation (whether it’s about work, personal life, family, friendships, hobbies), why take upon your shoulders more than you can take? It’s about knowing yourself and the others, I guess.

Easier said than done of course. But I think this is something a lot of us must be going through at some point, so I thought I’d share! Bits of Sunday night “wisdom” to have a good start of the week.

Happy Monday, everybody!