bruised bums

I keep making a habit of posting 2 days late, apologies again. On Tuesday I went ice skating. It was the first time I had been since the ski trip. I never used to be very good on ice. My balance wasn't too bad, and I was quite good at moving around, but I never had the confidence to bring my self away from the side. And each time I would step onto the rink, to see that part of it was coned off, I would die a little each time. I don't know whether it is a general rule, or just that everyone skates that way, but everyone always skates round the rink anti-clockwise. If you have any sense of sanity, you would stay clear of the centre of the rink, where the crazy skaters do their stunts. This gives me more of an excuse to cling to the edge, for dear life. But as I very slowly make my way round the rink, I come to the coned off bit, the point where I can't go any further and still cling to the side. No, I am expected to skate across the rink, not falling over, not going off course and ending up either in the middle of the hockey match, or in the middle of a very dramatic speed skating competition between some guys, who thought it would be fun to show off. I would fall over once, maybe twice, with each crossing, but that was more to do with my lack of confidence, than my poor skating skills. 


Anyway, that is what I used to be like. Then on the ski trip, I realised something. It is inevitable, that I will fall. Suddenly I was more daring. I would take my hand off the edge, and would skate freely, without holding to anyone or anything. When I fell, I would think to myself "meh, everyone falls". Then I didn't care if  I fell, so I grew more confident and therefore fell less. By the end of the skating session, I was leading people around the rink. And only fell twice in the entire 2 hours I was on the ice. This session was even better, I only fell over once, and that was because I was leading my mum round the ice, I wobbled but gained my balance, but she got very unnerved, and fell, dragging me down with her. I had a lot of fun, because I wasn't worried about falling and making a complete fool of myself. I realised, I already am a complete fool. And I am proud of it :D.


In conclusion:  it's all about the confidence. Apologies for the cliche and dreadful Gok Wan quote.