You're never too old

Did anyone else ever dream of being a "skater girl" when they were in middle school? I sure did, and I even bought a hot pink Penny Board to try and make that dream a reality. But even as a 7th grader I felt too old to be learning how to skateboard, leaving that beautiful hot pink board of mine to rust away in the garage.

Flash forward about ten years and here I am, a 22-year-old who just really started learning how to skateboard, and I once again I have been struggling with feeling too old to start something new.

I thought my days of learning how to skate were over when I went to the skate park in Ocean Beach for the first time and I saw a 8-year-old boy in a helmet and full on safety pads completely kicking my butt. I almost started crying and wanted to leave, saying that I hated skateboarding and was just too old to be learning now. Intimidation, embarrassment and a whole lot of frustration washed over me and I wanted to get out of that park as soon as possible. I was slouched up against the pool with my skateboard rolling away from me when my boyfriend told me how he has been to the skate park many times with people in their thirties and forties just learning for the first time and not to compare myself to people who have been practicing for years.

"Anyone who is any good has been falling for years, we still fall all the time and you know what... it's sick," the words of a true skater from my boyfriend Josh.

That put a smile back on my face, I wiped my tears on my shirt and I started going in circles just trying to learn how to turn. I got up a foot or two on the wall and made it down, now that might not sound very cool but wow it feels incredible! I was so proud and happy that I stayed and now, months later, I got skating almost every day and have gotten so much more comfortable.

What I realized is that nobody is really judging you, most people are worried about themselves and not focused on you falling. In Brené Brown's podcast, Unlocking Us, she talks about the courage it takes to do something new. I loved how she put it when she said that we just need to be okay with sucking at first. That's the truth, the more comfortable we get at being bad at something, the better we will get at everything. If you are too scared of being bad at something to ever try it you will miss out on a lot of great things in life, not to mention how rewarding it is to get better at something that was once a daunting endeavor.

When you're trying something new try to look at yourself like a little kid again. You know, when a child brings home their art work, and it might be all scribbled, but you can't help but love it? That's how you need to treat yourself when you're doing something new.

Whether you're 12, 22 or 42 you will always think you're too old or too late to try something new, promise me that you won't let that stand in your way anymore. Buy that hot pink Penny Board, go surfing or take that art class. It doesn't matter what it is, just don't sit back and watch other people doing what you so passionately want to pursue.

xoxo,

Kendell Kay