Skateboarding is a psychological game, it’s 15% physical and 85% mental – give or take, but you get the idea.
Don’t let yourself be fooled by that guy who seemingly does everything first try. He had to fight to gain that amount of consistency. What it really comes down to being persistent, and where does that start? Not with the body, but with the mind. It’s your mind (you) that decides whether you can do something or not, and then the body follows suit. You won’t be able to do something if you don’t believe you can.
Whether you think you can, or think you can’t, you’re right. – Henry Ford
And Henry was completely accurate, if you don’t believe that you can, then you’re screwed, and you don’t deserve the trick anyway (or the girl, or the guy, or the promotion). There is some madness and cognitive challenge – that is to say that you will be pushed – involved in trying a trick for an extended period of time, you may break some boards, you may get tossed around a bit, you may get frustrated, you may scream, yell, shout, screech to the top your lungs – you may even cry. That’s okay – there’s no shame in crying – nothing worth doing comes easy, and that applies to every aspect of life. But once you finally land that kickflip, or 180 nosegrind, or blunt to fakie on that quarter pipe, that feeling of satisfaction will totally outweigh the hours of exasperation you just endured.
A perfect example of what I’m talking about is Jerry Hsu’s intro to his part in “Stay Gold.” He goes through so much to get his tricks, it’s quite admirable, how determined he is to get it no matter what. Struggling so that he may – at some point – come out victorious.
Some days you just can’t win, and others, well, they work out just fine.
theskateboardingblog 
This post hit all the right notes…a perfect composition…resonated so beautifully and was so relatable (even though I’ve never been on a skateboard in my life 🙂 )….and had me so grateful for the inspiration of your generous spirit–and your willingness to speak to vulnerability–that I momentarily choked up (even though I told myself that I’m gonna take a break from that depth of feeling for today :). However, I realize that we should never take gifts for granted; and, while feeling deeply–and marvelling at marvels–can get a bit tiring at times when you just want to be a bit vacuous, it is always worth it….thank you for staying gold, Pony Boy….(I hope you don’t mind the pet name…I loved the book, The Outsiders…and I love the poem “Nature’s First Green Is Gold”…) 🙂
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Thank You! The relatability is makes the post worth it. Isn’t that one of the things that makes writing so amazing? The fact that others can relate to a person’s writing, and be able to say internally “ahh, I understand that so much!” Thank you for always speaking so kindly. Indeed, we should never take gifts for granted, they’re there to be used, not to waste away.
And also, thanks for making references that I know nothing about (haha), thus expanding my knowledge on such things 😉
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Ooops….the poem is called, “Nothing Gold Can Stay” (the first line is “Naure’s first green is gold…”). The poem is a very famous classic and is referenced in the book, “The Outsiders”…One of the characters is named Pony Boy and “stay gold” means stay pure and precious and your best self….I had the impulse to think of you in that context because you are so genuine and wonderful in so many ways and on so many levels…and, I believe you will remain so…so, rather than imploring you to stay gold, it is a rhetorical comment…I believe in you…. 🙂
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Thank you for making my day a little brighter 😉
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