I FELL DOWN YESTERDAY
Don’t worry. It wasn’t bad, and there was a really powerful lesson in it.
I bought myself some righteous, holographic silver roller skates. They’re SO pretty and I wanted to rediscover the pastime of my youth. I used to be really good but that was several decades ago, so I felt a little nervous.
Taking them out for their inaugural spin yesterday morning I fell down in the first 15 seconds I was out. And here’s the lesson – I fell because I was being TOO careful.
The parking lot at the path I wanted to follow is a bit rough and gravely, so I was picking up my feet, walking instead of rolling. I thought I’d roll only once I got to the safer, smoothly paved, “official” path.
Right away, I went down on my butt. Luckily, that thing is MUCH more padded than it used to be when I skated on the streets of Brooklyn as a kid.
But that’s where the lesson was! I was instantly, jarringly reminded that any new journey starts well before you step on the path, that your first steps are always the most roughly paved, and that you just need to push yourself past the gravel to get to the smooth rolling.
I was grateful to be reminded that sometimes playing it safe is the most dangerous thing you can do.
So yeah, I sat there laughing at myself while my ego smarted and my butt barely felt a thing. I sighed, stood up, then committed and skated over to where the “true” path began.
I was out for a glorious hour and I didn’t fall again. Not once, thanks to muscle memory. But I hope I fall again if I’m lucky enough to get such insight from it.
Hey guys, get yourselves rolling!
