Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Lessons from the Globe warehouse II

More people arrived at the warehouse. One skater turned up who had a particularly strong impact on me. He's in his twenties, wears an over sized cap, and is quite short and slim. His appearance did not make him stand out, but his skating certainly did. He wasn't the most elegant and stylish skater, nor did he perform highly technical tricks. Yet, whichever tricks he attempted, regardless of their difficulty level and danger, he showed unwavering commitment to landing them. So much so that his feet seemed glued to his skateboard. Even when he failed to maintain his balance, fell, and slid down the ramp's transition on his bottom or back, most of the time his feet remained on his board!

From what I've observed in the past, when a skater loses balance or senses that he won't land a trick he'll typically bail, that is, jump of his board to save himself from injury. This fellow, however, never seemed to retreat; the forces of nature had to tear the board away from under him. This made his skating appear quite precarious and clumsy - though he'd remarkably save himself and stay on his board even when it seemed certain that he was about to slam.

Equally as impressive was the absence of any fear on his face. In place of fear he bore a smile which bordered on a laugh. He appeared to be having the time of his life. And, regardless how heavily he fell, he seemed to get up uninjured, giggle at his fall and ascend to the platform with alacrity in anticipation for his next round.

A ray of his invincibility warmed me up. Uncharacteristically, I impulsively dropped into the ramp on my own skateboard and managed to perform tricks which I never thought I'd be able to carry out. Tricks I imagined to be beyond my skill level. I completely surprised myself and felt exhilarated and supercharged. What on earth was going on?...                                        

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