Winter is here, and everyone around me is getting into the
spirit of frozen walks to the office and skyrocketing heating bills from landlords. Personally, I’ve always been a Fall type of
person. I love pumpkin spice and
crunching dried pastels, freshly fallen from tree limbs. The feeling of jumping into a pile of leaves
or taking a brisk walk through the city on a perfect autumn day can never be
beaten by a trek through the snow in below comfortable outdoor temperature.
Fall is my safe haven, comfortable and familiar, and winter
is a deceptive con artist who woos you with her sparkling icicles and beautiful
snowfall, only to bite you in the face with sickness, pneumonia, and fat men breaking
into your house at night to “leave you presents” and make out with your mother. Out of all of these unfortunate
happenstances, however, there is one bit of winter that I can never wrap my
head around.
There’s something about freshly frozen pond that brings
children and adults alike to its shores, arms full of shoes with sharp razor
blades on the bottom and hearts full of warmth and joy for the day’s
activity. It’s not that I can’t ice
skate—I am perfectly capable of strapping on these deadly weapons and slipping
around a rink for a couple of hours, but you will never find me sliding around
any naturally frozen source of water.
Maybe it’s the cold outdoors, or the lack of refreshment
stand awaiting me when I am done with my slipping. These are the excuses I make for myself to
convince others that I’m just a Debbie Downer party pooper instead of a
terrified twenty-something.
I’m afraid of the falls.
On an ice skating rink, the worst thing that could happen if I fall
would be a broken bone, or maybe a broken toddler beneath my kneecap. What happens if I fall on the pond and the ice
doesn’t stop me? I’ll break through the
crystalline barrier, falling into a frozen and bitter bath. The hole I make will start to widen as the
weight of the other skaters push the frozen pond to its limit, ultimately
consuming the entire skating area. All
of the skaters are swallowed up by the waters beneath their beloved faux
rink. Everyone dies.
I’m afraid of the ice’s weight capacity. Just how thick is this ice anyway, didn’t
anyone check? What if I possess the
magic weight that, once on the pond, causes the entire layer of ice to give
way? I can see the headline now. Twenty-Something
Joins Skating Party. Mass Casualties. How can you ever know how much the ice can
hold unless you surpass the limit? I
don’t want to know that badly.
I’m afraid of the fishermen.
THESE ARE PEOPLE LITERALLY CUTTING HOLES IN THE ICE AS A LEISURE
ACTIVITY. What kind of sadistic person
thinks of sawing through ice that people are skating on? I have nothing against fishing—fishing is
probably one of the sports I may enjoy from time to time. But weakening the already iffy pond surface
that people are unsuspectingly using to skate?
That sounds dangerous.
I’m afraid that nothing will go wrong. If I decide to join everyone else on the
frozen pond and nothing bad happens, I won’t have any excuses to avoid the next
outing. My fears will remain and I will
be forced to slip all over a death trap just because it was safe that one time
I tried it before. One time with no
incidents does not make for every time with no incidents. I will still be terrified every time I step
out onto that ice.
I’m afraid of the risk.
The consequences. The possibility
of failure. The possibility of
success. I’m afraid that when I take
that leap of faith, that when I strap on those skates and join the party, that
I will never be able to sit on the sidelines again as people whiz by.
So no thanks, I’d rather not go pond skating with you. I think I will just sit inside with my warm
cup of hot chocolate and browse my normal blog lineup. Let’s go back to Fall so I can step on dried
leaves and feel safe again.
Ice skating is a physical activity that some people enjoy, like golfing, fishing, tennis, bicyling, baseball etc etc, you name it. Its an entertainment. It gives you pleasure if that happens to be your interest, otherwise it's a chore or annoyance. I personally don't care for physical sports and I never care to watch sports shows either. It's good to have common sense that tells you that you need to play in a safe enviornment. Man made skating rink is safer than icy river or icy pond because the ice may be thin and there are more accidents when people don't exercise precaution. Your observations are true.
ReplyDeleteSwimming in a pool is safer than swimming in an ocean. There is still danger in any activity you do even if you use common sense and examine your environment. There are always pros and cons in a lot of activities, you have to weigh them out. You shouldn't let minor negatives to stop you from venturing out. But you have to like what you do first and overcome or manage the negative sides. If you don't like skating, no matter how safe or pleasurable it is, you won't like it. If you like walking in the snow, it doesn't matter how cold it is, you will find good things about it. It's you. Know what you want, know what you need to do to get what you want and be prepared to put in the work required. May not be easy but that should't deter you to try. Nothing ventured nothing gained but use common sense. Think with your head not act with your emotions.
I enjoy reading your thoughts, keep on writing.
Auntie Linda
Failure is not bad. It's through failure that you make improvements and gain wisdom. The word "improvement" implies that there's something needs to be corrected so there's a little thing wrong with what's done prior so you improve it. If you do everything right the first time, then you have nothing to think about to do better the next time. Adversity makes a person grow stronger. A tree needs the wind to blow and pound on it in order to grow deeper roots to withstand even bigger storm.
ReplyDeleteThere's always risk in everything you do, but you calculate the risk and manage the risk. Risk means uncertainty. No one knows the future. You do what you think is right in the present and if it's done right, you will enjoy it in the future and in the present too. Experience is a good training process. YOu will know as you do more things and learn from what has worked and not worked for you. Have an inquisitive mind and a desire to learn and you will enjoy the fruit of your labor. auntie Linda