Letting Go Can Be So Much Fun

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I've a lot to learn from JM, my 5-yr old daughter.

We both ice-skated for the first time and yet she now skates like a pro, while I ... well ... I look like a combination of a 1-yr old baby walking for the first time and a baby duck trying to fly but couldn't.

Yup, that's how I look like on the rink each time.  I take careful, little steps with arms flailing like a wild duck, trying to maintain my balance, and always fearing for the worst ... fall down on my butt.

Last weekend, the 3 of us (hubby, daughter and me) went ice-skating again at The Pond in Bryant Park (in time for the park's annual tree lighting) and I couldn't help but be green with envy as my hubby and daughter glide gleefully on ice.  It wasn't fair!  We all started at the same time and I was logging behind.  What the heck's going on?

1.  Energy - She's 5 and I'm 36.  Meaning, I'm old.  I don't have the energy of a 5-yr old.  I couldn't bring myself to just skate to the max like she does.

2.  Guts - Kids are fearless.  They don't think about the dangers that's why they have so much fun doing stuffs.  For them, everything is play.  Me, I've got a lot of hangups. I might stumble, I might fall, I might fall on my face, I might fall on my butt, I might lose control, I might knock my head over, blah, blah, blah.

3.  "Deadma" attitude - "Deadma" means no reaction.  It's a local term we use for "I don't care", "so what?", "Who cares?".  My daughter falls down a million times on her butt but she just keeps going like nothing happened.  She just simply doesn't care.  I think she even enjoys falling.  Maybe.  Another hangup for me is I care a lot -- on how I'd get hurt, on how I look on the ice, or how embarrassing it would be to fall (esp. when there are spectators who just come to entertain themselves watching new ice-skaters. lol) 

I knew I had to do something about it.  I couldn't just rely on my hubby to hold me each time I go skating, or  hold onto the rails for dear life (it gets crowded on the side as more new skaters join in on the adventure).  I needed to let go of my fears and worries.  And I needed to have a deadma attitude.  How else could I learn and enjoy, right?

So, I searched the mighty web for tips and video tutorials.  I tapped (EFT) away my worries and I talked to the ice like it was my best friend in the whole wide world.  (Hey, you're not the only one who thinks I might have gone crazy.  I think that myself, too.)  lol.

But it works, you know?

The other day, JM and I skated by ourselves and the whole time I was telling the ice "I love you" and "You and I are one" ... and I just let go. I was imagining the ice like clouds in the sky, soft as cotton candy, ready to fluff me when I fall.  I didn't care if I looked unsophisticated with my arms all over the place, looking like a running penguin.  I actually was making fun of myself telling people I was the student and JM was my teacher.  People loved seeing the 2 of us together ... with me shouting "JM, wait for Mommy!" most of the time.

I just let go.  And I never fell.  Not even once.  Yahoo!

So, I'm doing it again ... and again ... and again.  Thanks to my teacher, JM!  This is another check off my Bucket List.