Why I Skate

Ice Skating has been a favorite activity of mine for, gulp, 8 years.

So here are 8 reasons why.

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1. Wonderful coaches who push you to do your best and take pride in your accomplishments as much as you do. From ones that you clicked with right away, to ones who had to grow on you, you've seen them all. You're grateful for the lessons they've taught you. Practice makes progress. Drive will take you far. Never give up.

2. The friends you make and the friendships you maintain every time you visit the rink. Every single visit, you meet someone new. Your ice skating buddies run the gamut. From the Tots, to a third grader with a sunny smile (when she actually smiles) who can spin with the best of them, to middle schoolers who you give advice to and share laughs with, to people your own age who skate with Disney and coach, to an English teacher at your old high school. So few of them are your age, but that means nothing. Not too many are at your ability level for both jumps and spins. And hardly any of them enjoy improvisation as much as you do. But it counts for diddly squat. You wouldn't have it any other way.

3. The results of dedicated training. Being able to land a jump or execute a spin almost perfectly after months of practice. Toe loop, cough, cough. Sit spin, you are slowly becoming less elusive.

4. A personal observation: At Lakewood ICE the skaters support each other unconditionally. There might be some club to club rivalry. But as individuals, the rink is one big happy family. You feel the love.

5. The ability to pick up skating lingo and feel like a pro. Shooting ducks, being a camel, and you know what a lutz is!

6. Being able to introduce your sport to others. It may be a bit counter intuitive to hole up in an ice rink in Sunny SoCal, but you started skating after learning to rollerblade at 10, An outdoor activity. Ice skating is not as difficult as one may think. You may have some degree of  physical advantage: relatively short and compactly built, with somewhat square hips and muscular legs. You fall a little short with flexibility. But there is no one body type for a skater. Fat, short, thin, tall, we've got it all.

7. If anyone ever starts to talk about sports teams, you can say your favorite pro team is the Anaheim Ducks. You'd love to try playing hockey eventually.

8. The creative aspect of it. You're not much of a dancer. But when you put on skates, you feel like a bird. You fly. And you can just let go, and move however you want to. You've always had a hard time doing that in dance class, but never when skating.

And you could go on and on...

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The point of making this list was simple. I just want to share a piece of my passion with the internet. Stuff like this just makes me happy. But I digress...

Song of The Day: It's Not Right For You, by The Script

Some things aren't right for you at all. Competitive swimming and learning how to draw come to mind. But the most important lyric in this song is "You got one life to love what you do." I think about that one line almost every day.

Oh, oh
Oh, oh

My head, my head is full of things that I should've done
My heart, my heart is heavy, and it sinks like a stone

She said, "Is this the life you've been dreaming of
Spending half the day away from the things you love?
It's not too late to do something new."

Yeah yeah she said, "It's hard enough trying to live your life
But not following your dreams made you dead inside
If you don't love what you do."

It's not right, it's not right for you (Oh)
If you even have to think about it (Oh)
It's not right, it's not right for you (Oh)
If you really have to think about it (Oh)
You got one life to love what you do

My hands, my hands are scarred by things I shouldn't have done
My feet, my feet are weary from all the miles that I've run

She said, "Open your mind, take a look within
Are you happy with the world that you're living in?
If not, you gotta change what you do."

Yeah yeah she said, "And lately I don't see you smile lot
Are you happy here with me and the things we've got?
If you can't say that it's true."

It's not right, it's not right for you (Oh)
If you even have to think about it (Oh)
It's not right, it's not right for you (Oh)
If you really have to think about it (Oh)
You got one life to love what you do

If we don't do something now then we'll never know
If we stay here too long then we'll, we'll never grow old
So, before it's too late and it's killing you, yeah
We've only one life to live, so love what you do

Oh, oh
It's not right, it's not right for you (Oh)
If you even have to think about it (Oh)
It's not right, it's not right for you (Oh)
If you really have to think about it (Oh)
You got one life to love what you do

In the end, in the end
Better hold 'cause you're taking it all in
In the end, in the end
You got one life to love what you do
In the end, in the end
Better hold 'cause you're take it all in
In the end, in the end
You got one life to love what you do

Love, Molly