One of my favorite activities to do on a weekend is roller skate. I love gliding along the floor, hair blowing along behind me, going as fast as humanly possible, as I dodge back and forth through the crowds of people. Well, that’s the mental image of myself that I like to picture; in reality, I spend much of my time on the roller rink doing an impressive impression of a windmill. Be that as it may, I still enjoy it, even when my feet ache and blister. I have discovered that you can find out a lot about a person, and about yourself, by how they skate.
There are some people that hang around the edge, clinging to the wall, even once they’ve gotten the hang of it. They’re afraid of falling, or looking ridiculous. In comparison, there are some that charge straight into the middle of the rink, arms pinwheeling, falling down again and again. The people that go straight to the middle are the people that tend to simultaneously annoy me, and impress me. The part of me that’s annoyed says, “What are they doing? They’re going to cause a pileup!” The part of me that is, somewhat reluctantly, impressed says, “At least they’re going for it.”
I’ve never been one to instinctively “go for it”. I like to be prepared for things. I’m not a fan of surprises, I don’t think well under pressure, and I very much dislike being put on the spot. The reason these people that just go for it impress me is because they throw caution to the wind and decide to give it their all, make or break. This should be something people should strive to do more often. Perhaps not the “throw caution to the wind” part, as caution is usually needed in certain situations, but giving it their all? That’s the part people should aim to practice.
When you join the crowd on the rink, you always have the people that continually fall down. All night. When I saw them once while roller skating, taking tumble after tumble, I felt horrible for them. They came to have a good time, and here they were, falling down, getting bruises for their trouble, and by the time they actually got the hang of it, it would be time to leave. I thought it would be pretty disappointing.
However, the longer I stayed there, I noticed a few different things. When these people fell down, they didn’t crawl off the rink with their head hung in shame. They stood back up, and shakily started moving again. Watching them reminded me that it doesn’t matter if you succeed. You can fail over and over, but the most important thing is that you learn from the failure, and get back up. In addition, these people didn’t seem discouraged when they fell. They got back up, with some help from friends, with a laugh and a smile, and pressed on, aware that there was a strong probability of falling again. However, that just didn’t faze them.
Roller skating is and always will be one of my favorite things to do. Not only because of the entertainment that it provides, but because of the grit that people have while they are skating. Next time you go to a roller rink, notice the people that give it their all and stand up when they fall down. When you have something difficult to overcome, or something you are attempting to improve a talent, remember to try your hardest, and give it your all, but also, don’t be afraid to laugh at your mistakes. See you next week!
“Reprinted from Hagel Publications, Inc. dba as Courier Newspapers”