Ice Skating Lesson

Man I feel like the year has already started off great. I am just having fun and am determined to continue to enjoy my life.

Tonight I went ice skating in Central Park and as I skated under the clear sky I thought, “How many people get to do this?” I am living a good life. I get to experience things I never have. While the world seems a lot bigger it also seems a lot smaller. There is so much to be done and to see.

It made me remember things I only whispered to myself that God still heard. I remember thinking how cool it would be to live in New York for a year and study dance and do something new. The problem was I was never bold enough to do something like that and didn’t think it would ever happen. I also remember going on a trip to New York and staring at the Ailey studio and telling God to, “Just leave me here.” I didn’t know the implications of my words but I imagined God looked down at me, smiled and said “Done.” From then on the plan was placed in motion.

What I realized about God is that sometimes when we least expect it and we’re not looking for it, he makes our dreams come true. That the things you ask for He wants to grant. I think that is so cool.

So I am having a particularly deep moment. You know those moments when you can find something significant in every little thing. So here are some nuggets I got while skating. Some are obvious and we’ve heard but humor me.

1) When you fall, get right back up. Don’t focus on the fall.

I was ice skating and I kept seeing people fall. Some immediately got up, brushed themselves off and kept going. Others lingered down on the ground and then everyone had to skate around them as to not create a collision. Isn’t that like our walk sometimes? We mess up and then instead of just asking for forgiveness and moving forward we decide we are just going to stay down and defeated. Then we take that attitude with us everywhere we go. Sometimes we even cause others to fall which is even worse

2) Do life at your own speed

As I watched little kids skating I noticed that they skated very slowly. They took their time and they didn’t try to move faster because others were passing them by. They were focused on themselves. Wouldn’t we all be much better off if we were able to go to life at our pace and stop looking at others as a gauge and barometer for where we should be? Oh wait. We are adults we do have that choice.

3) Don’t get too cocky or you’re sure to fall

So this is the first time I have skated and not fallen. Contrary to popular belief just because I dance doesn’t mean that I am not clumsy. I am. So what I noticed is that as I started getting my groove and started feeling myself, I attempted to do extra stuff and almost fell. That’s how we act in life. We do well in our walks for a bit and think we are impenetrable and wham! That’s when we get sucker punched because we thought we were too holy for that to happen.

Ok I’ve snapped out of my deep moment and have moved on. You know what I can’t stand? A complaining party pooper. If I hadn’t said it already I have two guests staying with me. One is my friend and the other is her friend. All this heifer does is complain. She is complaining about the fact that it’s cold. You came to New York in the dead of winter what the heck did you expect? Did you not check the weather forecast before you left? Then she didn’t want to skate because she fell when she was 8 and doesn’t want to relive that terrible experience. Are you serious? Do I sympathize or clown because you’re almost 40 letting something that happened 30 years ago hinder your fun now? It’s not like you were skating on a half frozen pond and fell through and almost drowned and someone saved you at the last moment. You just fell. I remember at one point telling Jaime, “She got one more time to complain and I’m going to punch her in the face.” So we dropped her off at the apartment and went to the movies. You are not going to ruin my vacation because you’re being a loser.

Whenever someone emulates a behavior I don’t care for I take a minute to reflect. I have heard that the things you don’t like in others are often a reflection of what you detest in yourself. So I thought about whether I complained. I realized that for the first few months that I was here all I did was complain. I hated everything about New York because it wasn’t California. I got over that when I accepted that though New York is different than California it still had a lot of things to offer. I also apologized to Jaime for having to put up with me during that time.