Longboarding Life Lessons

One February night, many moons ago, one of my best friends, Devin, asked me for one thing I have always wanted to learn how to do. After seconds of deep review...I told him about how I wanted to learn how to skateboard. When I told him this, I meant to express my aspiration in a "someday" kind of sense.

But lucky me, the goodly lad happened to have a LONGBOARD in his car. I suppose there is no time like the present...

Before we called it a night, I became acquainted with said longboard. I mostly just stood on it while Devin either pushed or pulled me along. Quite the pro, right? 

A few weeks later, Devin reminded me about how I needed another longboarding lesson! Oh goody! And, he had just replaced the wheels, so now the longboard could go even faster! ...Double goody! I accepted my future of dying in a freak longboarding accident, and gladly accepted another lesson.

We set out for lesson numero dos on a slightly chilly, and somewhat soggy March eve. This time around, I actually made more progress! It was a grand ole time, and from it, I learned many a thing! Turns out that I didn't just get longboarding lessons, I got some life lessons. Good job Devin!!! There are 5 key points I learned from my longboarding adventures. Here they be:

1. Trust. Our previous "lesson" just included me standing on the longboard, and Devin being my source of movement. Our location of choice was also the street in-front of my house, so the terrain was rather mild if I do say so myself. This time around, Devin brought me to a spacious park with some nice sidewalk dips. I daresay, I was rather nervous. Before making me go down by myself, Devin suggested that we both get on the longboard and go down together. I agreed, feeling I would be safe. That is, until I asked him if he had ridden on a longboard with another person before...and he said "No". It was then that I had to trust him that I would be alright, and should anything happen (like us crashing and burning for example) he'd protect me. We continued longboarding together for a few minutes before it was my turn to venture alone. Once again, I had to trust that I would be alright, and that if I fell, Devin would only laugh for a couple of seconds before coming to my aid. I made it down just fine, and was starting to like the thrill.

Sometimes life can seem very scary. Thankfully, we can put our trust in Heavenly Father. We can trust him through the scary dips in life. When this trust comes alive, we will realize that we are not alone, and that we are being aided and guided along. Even when we do feel like we are crashing and burning, we can trust that we can find healing through the Savior. This trusting can bring out joy even through the obstacles of life.

2. Proper Balance. I quickly learned that balance was important, even just to stand on a longboard. At least it wasn't as unstable as a skateboard! Devin would tell me about my foot placement, and even about leaning to certain sides in order to steer. I practiced leaning every which way before proceeding in motion. We moved to parts of the park that didn't just have dips, but had curves. Did I make it out alive??? Course I did...because I wrote this.

Balance is so important in our lives. First, we must start with a firm foundation, like...the rock of our Redeemer. We are promised that if we build on the foundation of Christ, we "cannot fall". I think of "leaning" as becoming familiar with different principles and areas of the gospel. When we practice our leaning, we exercise our faith in those areas. Then, when the road of life gives us dips and curves, we are prepared with our firm foundation, and various testimonies of truth.

3. Avoid puddles. Puddles? But weren't we in Gilbert, AZ? Why yes we were! But remember I said it was a soggy night? That is because it rained like crazy the night before. So there were puddles. Along with my steering through the sidewalk, I had to use my techniques to avoid the puddles. Didn't want to get the longboard all wet. I also did not want to get all wet, because then Devin might think I'm an unusually sweaty person.

Life has its share of puddles. They are not as apparent as curves and dips, and sometimes you can't even see them. They are the small and simple things. They can even seem harmless, because, it's just a bit of water. Right??? But when puddles creep up on you, next thing you know, you have soggy shoes AND socks. Ain't that the worst? Puddles may seem fun to spash around in, but you could easily become saturated in dirty water. Avoid these seemingly harmless puddles in life, because they can end up making you more miserable than you think.

4. Lean forward. Throughout this longboarding experience, Devin had to keep telling me over and over again to "lean forward"! I had a tendency to lean back. This was mostly out of fear. But Devin assured me that I would get better action if I would lean forward. How true that was! When I chose to lean forward rather than back, the experience was all the merrier, and I had better control of what was coming in my path.

Sometimes in life, I tend to be fearful of what is ahead of me. I dwell on the frightful experience of the past, and give no room for hope of the future. This is a dangerous thing. It keeps us from progressing. We must move forward with faith. When we move forward in life, and look up rather than down, we develop into who we can become, not who we currently are. We can change and be better. We can be happier. We can do incredible things.

5. Have Fun! I learned that what I thought would be such a difficult and embarrassing activity for me turned out to be really fun! Sure, I might have almost tripped a couple of times, but that was okay! Devin and I had a jolly good time and got in a good dose of laughs!

I think it was President Hinckley that said "Life is to be enjoyed not just endured". And then there is Elder Wirthlin's famous quote "Come what may, and love it". In life, we have to make the choice to have fun, and be happy. We can find light in the dark night, we can smile on our worst day, and we can laugh through our tears. "Men are that they might have joy"!

Well there you have it! All in all, this experience was one of my favorites! We had such a jolly good time, and he brought me home alive and well! I enjoyed this so much, and got a lot out of it! I'm so thankful to have a amazing friend like Devin who is patient with me, and who took me on an adventure to learn something new!

So next time you want to explore the meaning of life, grab a longboard and start cruising!