Learn to fall.

Jack took his first skateboard lesson at a nearby skatepark and seemed to totally crush it. He barely fell and made so much progress in a short amount of time.

A few days later though, Jack completely froze up when practicing solo. It was as if he forgot everything he learned and was scared of falling. Another dad took notice and came over to help him out. 

He told Jack that while he wouldn’t let him fall, it’s also ok if he does. Then, to our surprise and amusement, this dad started throwing himself to the ground on his knee pads. He explained (and clearly demonstrated) that the more you are comfortable falling, the more confident you’ll be on the ramps: “you just have to learn how to fall.” 

Soon enough, Jack did regain his confidence and dropped into the ramps. He made it a couple times without falling, but definitely had a few wipe outs. Each time, he got back up, adjusted, and tried again.

As Jack continued practicing, the dad looked at Jack with a little sparkle in his eye. He told me that he credited early life skateboarding to his success later in life and said “to learn to skateboard, is to learn to fall into better versions of ourselves.” 

It was a good little reminder. Like skateboarding, life is full of risk, failures, setbacks, and hurts. When a skateboarder ‘drops in’ to a ramp, they have to commit fully to the ride otherwise it’s not going to go well. Similarly, we also have moments in our lives where we have to choose to commit to a path, even if we do it imperfectly or know there’s a chance of heartbreak, loss, rejections, or full on wipeouts of our own doing. 

We fall in relationships, work, with our families, and with ourselves. It’s when we don’t pick a path or get in our heads that we can find ourselves stuck at some metaphorical ramp in life scared to make a move. The trick is to know it’s part of the process, to try, and to get back up when we inevitably fall or get off our path. To commit fully each time and to know that the falls aren’t a reason to doubt yourself, but they are an opportunity to get to know yourself and to adjust your approach or path next time. Keep going and remember:

To learn to fall, is to learn to live.