New Year's Resolution #1: Take up a new hobby.
I decided that this new hobby would be longboarding. Longboarding is a perfectly reasonable thing for a 28 year old to take up, right? I got really tired of seeing people fly by me on really cool looking skateboards and seemingly having the times of their lives. Longboarding looked so cool! I had to buy one!
About 3 weeks ago, I did just that. I have to admit, longboarding was a lot easier than I imagined. True, I wasn't doing any sweet tricks but I was immediately balancing myself and moving at a reasonable speed. I felt great! Longboarding was as much fun as I imagined. I even used my longboard as an effective means of getting around the hallways of my University (see below). So, day to day, I would skate around the neighborhood, sticking to side streets, stumbling occasionally but never going fast enough to actually fall. Until two days ago.....
I was exploring a new area of my neighborhood. The roads were relatively flat and were in much better condition than the streets closer to my home. One side street was a moderate slope that didn't seem too bad and I was feeling brave. "I'm doing this", I said to myself. So off I went, picking up speed, faster, faster. "This is no problem", I said. "This is GREA........."
Next thing I know, the board is way in front of me, I'm running but can't keep my balance, my arms are above my head, about 1 second before I lost my balance I notice a dime in the street. "Oh, there's a dime", BAM! SMACK!
I was on the pavement face down and my longboard was still hauling ass towards a neighborhood intersection. In a split second I was up and running after my board. I eventually I caught up to it, picked it up, and started walking back up the hill. That's when I looked down at my right hand and noticed an area of skin that was missing. I looked over at my left elbow and I had a bad scrape. My left leg was a little sore and I had a small hole in my jeans. I hurt a little but not too bad. I began the slow walk back home but after walking back to the top of the hill, I decided to skate back instead. I wasn't being brave, I just didn't want to be seen carrying a skateboard. It looks weird. And, I never did find that stupid dime.
As I was going back home I started to wonder. When was the last time I scraped my elbow? It's probably been more than a decade. Maybe 15 years. I had to of been in my early teens. I began to laugh. I was actually doing something that could result in a scraped elbow. I felt that I was actually living. I felt that I was finally doing something moderately reckless and I haven't felt that way in a really long time. I felt really good.
Still, the "responsible" adult side of me kicked in when I got home and put antibiotic ointment and bandages on my wounds. I had a good story and very rarely are my days "story worthy". So, New Year's Resolution #2: Do something story worthy every day.
After I cleaned my scrapes I went back outside and rode my longboard some more. For the time being I'm staying away from that hill but after a little more practice I'll be back.
Have you taken up any new hobbies? Got anything story worthy you would like to share. Let's hear it.
Take care of yourself and each other...
I like your second resolution. Your elbow scrape is no hole in the leg, but not bad as far as battle wounds :). I'm also glad to see you are still wearing the bracelet from Peru, it must smell something awful... Unfortunately, my multicolored seed pearl necklace broke :(. I still have most of the pearls if I can find a way to put it back together again.
ReplyDeleteOne of my new years resolution is to be able to do 3 pull ups. It does not sound like much, but right now I cannot even do one. Not very exciting, but hopefully it will improve my physical fitness so I can do more story worthy things. Oh, and I also picked up ice skating, which has left me with a scrape on my hip, a scab on my ankle, and a bruise on my knee for weeks. 2012 has not been a good time to be my body.
The bracelet doesn't smell awful!!! I take showers and by proxy the bracelet does too. I added a second bracelet, you can see that in the photo too. I bought it while I was in Guyana. I think it is made from the exact same material!
ReplyDeleteLet me know how the pull up challenge is going. I'm running my second half marathon in May and I will be training for a full marathon later this year!
I've also named 2012 the "Year of Abs"! So....we'll see how that goes.
This made me laugh! Just by living where I am and doing what I like to do, I "eat it" all the time, though luckily it's not on pavement. I'm usually stumbling over branches, sliding down muddy slopes, and once I got sucked in to a muskeg up to my waist (like a soggy field of grass that all of a sudden gives way). Over the winter it's the same story, only involving cross-country skis. =D
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