It all started when my son started dreaming of skateboards and half-pipes. Actually, no, it first started when one of the staff members at our climbing gym routinely used a skateboard for transportation to and from the climbing gym. I’d look at the board propped in the entryway when I’d get a drink of water and wonder how hard it was and whether I could do it without injuring myself…but my son’s new obsession was the main catalyst.
The next thing I knew, I had a helmet strapped to my head and my son and I were in a private lesson with a laidback guy who has made a career out of skateboarding. I was very excited and decently nervous (because I definitely did not want to break an ankle). I clung to our teacher’s instructions like his oversized jeans desperately tried to stay up.
Here’s what I learned from a skateboarding lesson:
- Be brave enough to try something new, and be okay with being a wobbly beginner. Everybody starts somewhere!
- Be brave enough to ask for advice. After our lesson during open skate time, I asked a particularly greasy-looking boarder who obviously loves the sport as much as his baggy jeans a question, and he was happy to share some ideas to help me progress.
- Remember that you might have fun, and you might even be good at something new…
- but if you’re really bad at it, that’s okay. If you enjoy it or need to learn it, keep trying. Be content with your beginner status and remember that all beginners fall.
- Don’t stay down. Get up and try again. When you fall or your board gets away from you and rockets across the park, nearly causing 4 collisions, dust yourself off, smile, and try again. That’s what all the skater boys I saw did, and even the most skilled guys lost control while riding (granted, they were drilling stunts, but I guarantee you they were beginners at one point!).
- Enjoy the fact that you have a new skill! And keep practicing (whatever it takes to ward off Alzheimer’s as long as possible). Who knows when you might have to outrun a volcano eruption a la The Secret Life of Walter Mitty?
What new endeavors have you tried, or what hobbies would you like to pursue? Post your comments below 🙂
M Liz Boyle 
Point 4 reminds me of a quote from the author G.K. Chesterton. “If something is worth doing, it’s worth doing badly.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
True! Thanks for that reminder!
LikeLike
I first tried downhill skiing at age 13, thanks to a junior high youth group trip. This was one of those trips where the adult leaders basically just showed us newbies how to stop, before pushing us all in the direction of the ski lift, hoping they wouldn’t lose too many of us by the time we loaded up the church van at the end of the day. As an irredeemably unathletic 8th grader, I was convinced I would be downright awful at it.
But I totally killed it—as much as you can “kill it” with “snowplow” turns, anyhow. I was at the head of the class as far as those of us on that trip who had never been skiing before.
Skiing turned into a mild obsession through high school and into college. I got quite good at it, and that was even on those longer skis we all used to use (mine were 185s or 190s as I recall). I even got pretty good at skiing the mogul hill. Alas, I have wrecked my one knee too many times doing other misguided things that it makes me nervous to go these days. But that one trip taught me that I should never be afraid to try anything!
I also tried golf back in my teens. That did not end well.
Thank you for this post!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for sharing your skiing story 🙂 That’s awesome that you killed it and gained a hobby! My one downhill skiing experience (6th grade field trip for me) ended humorously enough to end up in a book…someday I’ll have to try again, because you’re so right that we shouldn’t be afraid to try cool things!
LikeLiked by 1 person