Day 3: Get Up

Day 3

I learned how to snowboard this year. I heard this a lot.

When I snowboard alone, I tend to sit after falls. When I'm with my friend, I am told, "Get up. What are you sitting for? Get up." On my own, I practiced falling leaf; it is easy to control but very tiring. It is a tool to teach beginners how to find an edge. Under my friend's guidance and constant reminders to get up, I learned to turn. Turns are the key move to snowboarding. They take more skill but less energy than falling leaf. The breakthrough came when I finally understood what it means to pick a lead foot and only turn on that side. Completing the first successful turn was exhilarating and made me so glad I kept snowboarding despite weeks of failure.

New endeavors often require a large amount of energy and result in what seems to be constant failure at first. As much as I always want to sit after falling, getting up leads to success quicker.  As skills develop with practice, results will improve while taking less energy.  While resting after a fall can be prudent, getting up is more useful. That said, the actual act of getting up while strapped to a snowboard is difficult. I can empathize with upside turtles now. Successfully snowboarding down a mountain makes the effort worthwhile.

Have you pursued any activity despite constant failure? What led to your first breakthrough?