“You can’t keep skating through life.”
False. If you can, you totally, absolutely, 100% should skate through life. Whoever said this was someone who wasn’t able to learn to rollerblade.
Why wouldn’t you want to skate through life?
It’s much more exciting to skate than to walk. It’s faster, more efficient, and the slight risk of danger in falling makes it that much more worth it, since a life lived without risked is arguably not one worth having lived.
I was prepared to write another 10-12 pages on this phrase, but it turns out that I nailed my message in only about 100 words, so that was easy.
If you need more evidence though, go ahead and visit your local library. Rent a little VHS called Brink! starring Disney channel’s Erik von Detten. If the library doesn’t have the VHS on hand, it’s OK—you can ask them to get it from another library. It might take a few days, but they’ll do it if you make a real fuss.
The librarians really like it when you come to visit because it breaks up their day, so they’ll personally track down a copy of Brink! and even see to it that you have at least 3 days to watch it (most libraries give you a week, but if it’s a popular movie they sometimes only offer a 2-3 day rental period so more people can get a chance to watch it sooner. It’s only fair.)
Brink! is about a nerdy boy who teaches bullies a lesson by skating better than them in a skating competition. So, it has really some good life lessons in there, because if you’re better than bullies at sports it’s IMPOSSIBLE for them to bully you anymore.
So, on second thought—you should keep skating through life. Adios bullies!
Also, if you don’t have a VCR, the librarians sometimes will have one right in the library with an old TV that rolls around on a cart. You just have to ask!
Later,
Stephen G. Erickson, Co-Founder & Part-Time Intern
