So considering how I sorta have writers block right now, I thought it would be a good idea to write about writers block. For starters there are many ways that people try to cope with writers block. Some look at inspirational pictures or videos, others just wait it out. Even though I haven't had to deal with writers block much, just recently I realized that when I listen to violin based orchestra music I can write and think better.
This gets me thinking about how we all react differently to different things, such as writers block. I guess this just goes to show that everybody is different with different personalities, and different things that inspire them to write.
It is really an odd thing how we are made with such diversity, but we all have the same few relations.
We are all created by God in His image, we are all descendants of Adam and Eve, and we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. However, despite all these similar beginnings we all are uniquely and largely different. We are either Asian, European, African, Latino, or some other race/race-mix. However, that is only the beginning of our differences.
This scale of different and similar things can fall back towards similar again though. This is because almost all of us have two eyes, ears, legs, arms, a head, nose, chin, and main body section.
Lets look back over what I said. When I looked at how we are similar, at first I only looked at complete deffinites and the same was true when I switched to our differences. However, when I switched back to similarities I looked at things that should be definite, but are not always because of sin.
I think what this difference in thinking or perception of similarities shows that perspective on something greatly affects your opinion. When you get different perspectives in a church (and your bound to find many) arguing and eventually separation and loss of church members can easily happen. So what is that "glue" that somehow keeps the Church together? Some might say its love and compromise, but I think there is a greater glue that keeps the church together. I think God is the one who holds the church together in unison. If we are all the children of God doesn't that make us brothers and sisters? And if we are family with a Holy and perfect Father, that's a genetic "glue" like no other. How can a city with a corrupt leader ever survive?
Each person's perception of something is different, but being children of God relates us together in harmony despite our profound differing perceptions.
Friday, January 11, 2013
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Commitment
As I was snowboarding one day I was working on a pretty hard trick combo. Each time the first trick
I would land, but I would fail to look for my landing to be able to start the next trick. Each time I kept on saying to myself to commit to it and I will land the trick. Every time I didn't commit I would miss spotting my landing and then the next feature.
Now switch that over to my life with God. Each time I don't fully commit to following God with all I have I fail. I know that if I commit fully all will be good. Just like when snowboarding I know that if I focus and commit to the subject I will land the trick and be alright. Every time I get scared by the speed and danger of the trick and don't commit. Why is it so hard to commit to God and my snowboarding trick? I get scared, I don't trust God or myself. When snowboarding it is so hard for me to forget that my mind is saying that there is danger and let my body do what it knows it can do. I know that my body can do it and that I will be ok, however my mind gets in the way and says; Wait, there is a chance you could hurt yourself. Its the same with God. I know that God will take care of me and that if I commit to follow him completely I will be alright. However, again my mind gets in the way and says; how can you trust this guy? something bad could happen. Now of course I know thats not the truth, but its a whole mind over matter thing. Its the war between ourselves. We just can't let the wrong side win.
It was the last shot of the day because of the fading light, the camera was rolling, I was in pain, and I was tired. However, the desire inside of me put into place by God that pushed me to keep snowboarding stayed around just until the end. It basically was all on the line. I dropped in telling myself to commit, just commit that was all I needed to do. At the lip of the ramp my mind was telling me to not commit, to not do it, and that I could hurt myself.
Its all about the commitment, I had to push past the dumb fear in my mind, and do what I knew I could and should do. I popped off the lip with my mind telling me to not commit, but my body telling me to commit. My body won and I nailed the trick.
All of this shows how if I just commit to God fully all of the time I will get the best ride of my life. I will nail things right and left. I will be happy, content, and have a great life.
So what is the goal? To step across that line, jump in, and commit fully to life with God. Take the new profound life waiting for you to commit to. Commit to God and all will right itself.
I would land, but I would fail to look for my landing to be able to start the next trick. Each time I kept on saying to myself to commit to it and I will land the trick. Every time I didn't commit I would miss spotting my landing and then the next feature.
Now switch that over to my life with God. Each time I don't fully commit to following God with all I have I fail. I know that if I commit fully all will be good. Just like when snowboarding I know that if I focus and commit to the subject I will land the trick and be alright. Every time I get scared by the speed and danger of the trick and don't commit. Why is it so hard to commit to God and my snowboarding trick? I get scared, I don't trust God or myself. When snowboarding it is so hard for me to forget that my mind is saying that there is danger and let my body do what it knows it can do. I know that my body can do it and that I will be ok, however my mind gets in the way and says; Wait, there is a chance you could hurt yourself. Its the same with God. I know that God will take care of me and that if I commit to follow him completely I will be alright. However, again my mind gets in the way and says; how can you trust this guy? something bad could happen. Now of course I know thats not the truth, but its a whole mind over matter thing. Its the war between ourselves. We just can't let the wrong side win.
It was the last shot of the day because of the fading light, the camera was rolling, I was in pain, and I was tired. However, the desire inside of me put into place by God that pushed me to keep snowboarding stayed around just until the end. It basically was all on the line. I dropped in telling myself to commit, just commit that was all I needed to do. At the lip of the ramp my mind was telling me to not commit, to not do it, and that I could hurt myself.
Its all about the commitment, I had to push past the dumb fear in my mind, and do what I knew I could and should do. I popped off the lip with my mind telling me to not commit, but my body telling me to commit. My body won and I nailed the trick.
All of this shows how if I just commit to God fully all of the time I will get the best ride of my life. I will nail things right and left. I will be happy, content, and have a great life.
So what is the goal? To step across that line, jump in, and commit fully to life with God. Take the new profound life waiting for you to commit to. Commit to God and all will right itself.
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Jesus On Earth
Being that Christmas happened to fall on Tuesday I thought I would make a post relating to Christmas. I'm sure most of you have heard the Christmas story and how its not about the gifts or songs, but about Thee Gift given to us by God Himself.
The interesting thing about Jesus coming to earth is the fact that He was God. God chose to send Himself to earth in Human form. Jesus could have just showed up in a mist or He could have just fixed the world without ever showing up. However, God had a better purpose and plan. God made us able to make our own choices, so the only way for us to still have the choice to follow Him is for us to choose God over evil. Not having perfectness forced upon us, but Jesus giving us the ability to choose life by His death.
God put Himself, Jesus, under restrictions that we as humans are under here on earth. Jesus could have just not followed the rules of earth and fly, walk on water, and go through walls. However, Jesus did do some of these actions because we humans are stubborn and need to see to believe. Sometimes words are just not enough.
Another thing is Jesus had to come to earth and save us. If God just told us to believe in Him to be saved we wouldn't know the extent of his love. Jesus had to die. The Death of Jesus is so powerful. Without that power we would not know how much God loves us and we would be less willing to become His children.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave is one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
The Birth of Jesus was an interesting happening from start to finish from the virgin marry, to the shepherds, to the wise men. Then the purpose and reasons behind the things that happened like they did are so profound and show the great plan by God.
The interesting thing about Jesus coming to earth is the fact that He was God. God chose to send Himself to earth in Human form. Jesus could have just showed up in a mist or He could have just fixed the world without ever showing up. However, God had a better purpose and plan. God made us able to make our own choices, so the only way for us to still have the choice to follow Him is for us to choose God over evil. Not having perfectness forced upon us, but Jesus giving us the ability to choose life by His death.
God put Himself, Jesus, under restrictions that we as humans are under here on earth. Jesus could have just not followed the rules of earth and fly, walk on water, and go through walls. However, Jesus did do some of these actions because we humans are stubborn and need to see to believe. Sometimes words are just not enough.
Another thing is Jesus had to come to earth and save us. If God just told us to believe in Him to be saved we wouldn't know the extent of his love. Jesus had to die. The Death of Jesus is so powerful. Without that power we would not know how much God loves us and we would be less willing to become His children.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave is one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
The Birth of Jesus was an interesting happening from start to finish from the virgin marry, to the shepherds, to the wise men. Then the purpose and reasons behind the things that happened like they did are so profound and show the great plan by God.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Ballance
Lately I have been finding that ballance is needed in just about everything. However to show what I'm getting at let me start with my own definition: Ballance is equal amounts on both sides resulting in stableness. Typically when I think I ballance I think of staying in control and upright when doing my stunts. However, I want to relate it to life. As important ballance is to keep yourself from falling down and hurting yourself, so is ballance needed to keep yourself from going to an extreme and maybe hurting yourself.
Ballance isn't a new thing for me to write about though, there are my posts Monkinisom and Un-Monkinisom. In Monkinisom I explained how it was a great experience but I felt like God was telling me I shouldn't seclude myself from the world so much. Then in Un-Monkinisom I was shown by God that I was being too immersed in the things of the world. What I needed was ballance to set that straight.
This keeps coming up in my life where I find I need to find a ballance between two things. For example I like to wear different clothes in a different style and try to make it look good. However, if I step across that delicate line of ballance I will end up looking like those people that have too much stuff too weirdly worn.
In my relationship with God I find that I can't just focus to asking for the Holy Spirit, I need to focus on developing a love for God, more focus when praying, more focus on worship not the sound quality, and many other things. If I only focus on only one of those things I will end up lopsided and off ballance.
How do you know what the ballance scale is? Where do you find that ballance or that scale to make sure your in ballance? God is that ballance scale. God will show you somehow where your at on the ballance scale and which way you need to move to right it.
One exception in your life where ballance isn't needed is how much you live for God. The ultimate thing is to have the scale heavily fallen towards God. Don't be teetering on that scale wondering which way you will go, towards God or towards evil.
Each area of your life has its own profound God given ballance scale.
(For all of you wondering or concerned with how I spelled ballance with two ll's, well that was all in purpose of giving ballance to the word ballance.)
Ballance isn't a new thing for me to write about though, there are my posts Monkinisom and Un-Monkinisom. In Monkinisom I explained how it was a great experience but I felt like God was telling me I shouldn't seclude myself from the world so much. Then in Un-Monkinisom I was shown by God that I was being too immersed in the things of the world. What I needed was ballance to set that straight.
This keeps coming up in my life where I find I need to find a ballance between two things. For example I like to wear different clothes in a different style and try to make it look good. However, if I step across that delicate line of ballance I will end up looking like those people that have too much stuff too weirdly worn.
In my relationship with God I find that I can't just focus to asking for the Holy Spirit, I need to focus on developing a love for God, more focus when praying, more focus on worship not the sound quality, and many other things. If I only focus on only one of those things I will end up lopsided and off ballance.
How do you know what the ballance scale is? Where do you find that ballance or that scale to make sure your in ballance? God is that ballance scale. God will show you somehow where your at on the ballance scale and which way you need to move to right it.
One exception in your life where ballance isn't needed is how much you live for God. The ultimate thing is to have the scale heavily fallen towards God. Don't be teetering on that scale wondering which way you will go, towards God or towards evil.
Each area of your life has its own profound God given ballance scale.
(For all of you wondering or concerned with how I spelled ballance with two ll's, well that was all in purpose of giving ballance to the word ballance.)
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Non-fictionable
Everybody has their own dreams. I don't care how big they are. It doesn't matter how hard it is to get there, it doesn't matter how impossible it may seem, it doesn't matter what others say. Dreams are something to hold on to as a door into the future, they are something to live for. It doesn't even matter if you accomplish this dream, what matters is your passion. Without a passion for your dream it isn't an accomplishable dream. Without passion you won't push through the pain, the hard times, and the things that bring you down to be able to rise up and live it.
The funny with with dreams is that sometimes the best part is going through the hard times. Its about the end result, but a lot of the time the journey there is better. In your mind its about the end destination, but the adventure is the real dream.
I dream all the time. Sometimes my dreams are things I want to accomplish and sometimes just pure fantasy. Why dream about something that you know could only be fantasy? I guess the way to explain it is, you know when your really into a good movie about some great hero on a quest? Even though your not in the movie or its not your dream, you still get really into it. Your thinking about that great ultimate goal that you want the person on the screen to reach. If its about the exceitment it doesn't matter if its fantasy. Normally the dream is about that jurney to the goal, or the excitement for the end goal.
However, don't forget that your dream may be non-fictionable. That means your dream may seem that it is unreachable to the people around you or maybe even to yourself, but that doesn't mean it can't become reality.
My dream is to get a job I will love everyday. At this point I think that will be being a professional snowboarder or something related to snowboarding. I can have faith in my dream and my abilities, but my faith should really be in God.
Matthew 19:26 - Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
The truth is that you can't accomplish your dream on your own. With God even the hardest, unreachable, and profound dream is non-fictionable.
The funny with with dreams is that sometimes the best part is going through the hard times. Its about the end result, but a lot of the time the journey there is better. In your mind its about the end destination, but the adventure is the real dream.
I dream all the time. Sometimes my dreams are things I want to accomplish and sometimes just pure fantasy. Why dream about something that you know could only be fantasy? I guess the way to explain it is, you know when your really into a good movie about some great hero on a quest? Even though your not in the movie or its not your dream, you still get really into it. Your thinking about that great ultimate goal that you want the person on the screen to reach. If its about the exceitment it doesn't matter if its fantasy. Normally the dream is about that jurney to the goal, or the excitement for the end goal.
However, don't forget that your dream may be non-fictionable. That means your dream may seem that it is unreachable to the people around you or maybe even to yourself, but that doesn't mean it can't become reality.
My dream is to get a job I will love everyday. At this point I think that will be being a professional snowboarder or something related to snowboarding. I can have faith in my dream and my abilities, but my faith should really be in God.
Matthew 19:26 - Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
The truth is that you can't accomplish your dream on your own. With God even the hardest, unreachable, and profound dream is non-fictionable.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
What happend to the present?
The one day I looked up at our new clock on the wall that had the words - cherish yesterday, live today, and dream tomorrow on it. Now this is like most of those special meaningful things you put on your wall in the bathroom to ponder on. These sayings don't typically seem to make much of a difference. However, when I thought about this one I found out that I either replay the past in my mind or think about what the future could be. Rarely do I "live today" and make the most of the time I have. I don't know if this is a dissatisfaction with how I am living my life or what. However, if it is the case that I don't like how my life is, umm I should change it.
Switchfoot's song - This is Your Life -
Yesterday is a wrinkle on your forehead
Yesterday is a promise that you've broken
Don't close your eyes, don't close your eyes
This is your life and today is all you've got now
Yeah, and today is all you'll ever have
Don't close your eyes
Don't close your eyes
This is your life, are you who you want to be?
This is your life, are you who you want to be?
This is your life, is it everything you dreamed that it would be?
When the world was younger and you had everything to lose
We shouldn't relive the past so much that we never now where we are now and we should never look to the future so much that you forget what you need to face now. You are living in the present. You can learn from the past and see what might be good to go for in the future, but don't forget to apply it to your life now.
The past is the past you can't change it, only remember and learn from it. The future is to come, why worry about it or plan it? Your future is God's plan for you, it will be much better if you live that plan. I don't know about you, but I want God's will to be my path and my goal. And because of that my life will have the greatest profound experience than my own way.
Switchfoot's song - This is Your Life -
Yesterday is a wrinkle on your forehead
Yesterday is a promise that you've broken
Don't close your eyes, don't close your eyes
This is your life and today is all you've got now
Yeah, and today is all you'll ever have
Don't close your eyes
Don't close your eyes
This is your life, are you who you want to be?
This is your life, are you who you want to be?
This is your life, is it everything you dreamed that it would be?
When the world was younger and you had everything to lose
We shouldn't relive the past so much that we never now where we are now and we should never look to the future so much that you forget what you need to face now. You are living in the present. You can learn from the past and see what might be good to go for in the future, but don't forget to apply it to your life now.
The past is the past you can't change it, only remember and learn from it. The future is to come, why worry about it or plan it? Your future is God's plan for you, it will be much better if you live that plan. I don't know about you, but I want God's will to be my path and my goal. And because of that my life will have the greatest profound experience than my own way.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
My Story - The Little Snowboarder in me -
What is my story? Well I could write about many stories from my life, I could even write my testimony, however I thought I would write about a story most of you hear about. This story started like most, however unlike some this story is existing now and will keep on existing until I die. In a way this story is a my testimony, it definitely has many parts in my life's testimony.
What story? The story of me and snowboarding. Probably some of you would have seen this coming, but either way its is a story of many trials, errors, and excitement. Hardly anyone knows that even though snowboarding isn't my career right now and I haven't been doing it most of my life, it is a big part of me and has changed me not only in the ways that you around me see, but also spiritually. Yes, snowboarding has actually been one of the biggest things that has affected my life spiritually. So is snowboarding a religion to me? No thats not what I mean, its through experiences snowboarding or non-snowboarding experiences that have made me look at life differently and notice things in me that need to change.
Of course my story started back when I was younger. I used to be the little skier who liked to fly down the slopes at ski sawmill. I loved skiing very much then, I always wanted to go more times than I did in a year, but even as hard I tried to get my parents to take me more times I only ended up going once a year.
As any kid I have always looked up to a lot of people and I have always been one to hang out with older people. I had a few friends my age, but I almost liked my older brother's friends better. I don't know if its because I had a fascination with wisdom and found that in older people, if I wanted to be doing what the cool older people were doing, or if I was old for my age in my mind. The people I looked up to when I was a skier was the snowboarders. I remember looking at the snowboarders and thinking man, they are so cool, I want to be like them and snowboard.
So in 2007 I tried snowboarding for the first time. I wanted to be cool like a snowboarder should be, I didn't want the ugly orange helmet I was given at first and asked for a black or blue one instead. If your a snowboarder you can't be not cool it just isn't right.
I always liked to go skiing with a friend so Brooks Gleckner and I decided to learn to snowboard together. Neither of us knew what we were doing and we had no one to teach us so we looked ridiculous falling down all the time.
A hard thing to explain about snowboarding is that snowboarding has a feeling of i guess a freedom, coolness, and sweetness. I can't just tell you what snowboarding is like, how fun it is, and you will understand what I'm saying. Snowboarding is unexplainable you have to go out and try it. An analogy of this is a sermon, you can hear how great whatever the pastor is telling about is, but until you try it will you know the power and greatness of it.
I would like to point out that even as great a feeling snowboarding is, this is where snowboarding stops and God keeps on going. What I mean is snowboarding is all about the feeling, God goes way beyond just feeling.
Those totally cool feelings from snowboarding are I guess what kept me going every time I fell flat on my face. You can fall down every couple of feet, but each time you get a little bit farther and better your feeling of accomplishment goes way up. Every time I would fall down flat on my face I would get up with possibly snow on my face, down my neck, in my gloves that were soaked, and up my sleeves. Each time you fall you learn, the more you fall, the more you learn. I have this saying, "snowboarding teaches you to fall." So maybe thats what pushed me on, the knowledge that every time I got up I had more knowledge to feed to my knowledge hungry brain. learning how to fall is essential to keep from getting hurt and being able to learn from the fall. Some times you need to let yourself fall, because you know if you don't the results would be much worse.
After that first day I knew I would never go back to the skier I was, the future of snowboarding was much more exciting. Even as humiliating those days of learning were, they were the necessary experiences for my snowboarding story to become what it is.
The next year was I think when I started snowboarding in my backyard. At first I was very unsophisticated, I only used an old terrible plastic snowboard and a few metal pipes on the ground as a grinding bar. This was just the beginning of my crazy dedication to snowboarding.
In 2009 I had problems with forgetting what I had learned the year before. As a result I fixed that problem by going snowboarding more often the next year.
The next year was the year when my snowboarding life really changed and grew. This was the year I designed a more sophisticated grinding bar for better snowboarding in my backyard that got made. This was also the year my tricks got bigger, better, and increased in quantity. This was the first year I made a video of my snowboarding tricks from the season too.
Last year, 2011, was the craziest year of all. I went to New Hampshire to a place called Canon and another resort called Loon Mountain. Up north where the mountains and resorts are bigger it sorta feels like a dream. You can't believe just how amazing everything from the chairlifts, to the mountain, to the trails are.
Then something weird happened after I got home from New Hampshire. Anybody would think that a resort that is five times bigger and better than the one your used to, would be your favorite resort. However, I had developed a strong liking to ski sawmill, it is like a home to me now. Even as much I liked and how insane New Hampshire was, when I got back home I really missed my snowboarding home, ski sawmill.
The first day back at ski sawmill, was the biggest change that happened in my snowboard story. It was a great day, but then disaster struck. It was a good day still, but not even close to how I thought it would be a good day. On my third or fourth run of the day I went to do a trick, but when I came back down I caught my back edge. I fell about three feet with most of my body weight landing on my wrist. I felt a lot of pain, but figured my wrist was fine. However, after another run I knew I had done something to my wrist. I ended up going to the ER thinking I might have a broken wrist. I had been given good news though, I had only broken my wrist growth plate. I was still off of snowboarding for three weeks as a result though. Even after that God had given me an ability to stay happy even with how that day ended up being. The reason it was still a good day as a whole though was because of what I learned from the whole experience.
For a while after the incident I was faced with the question of asking myself what the reason for this experience was. I was sure there was a reason and that it was for me to learn something.
Eventually God hit me with the realization that I had pride. Not only a little though, I had a lot of pride in myself. I needed to be humbled and what I needed was to fall down snowboarding at my favorite resort when I was feeling all high and mighty and break my wrist growth plate.
The first thing this realization changed was how I was going to look at myself. No longer was I the best at the things I do well and couldn't mess up. I also now knew in my mind that I needed humbleness.
Then one night after that event when I was feeling scholarly I sat down at the computer and started writing a song. My mind was fresh with my problem and what happened in my earlier distorted mind. I was able to lay rhymes down really fast. Line after line it got better and better and it became a story in and of itself. It told the story of how I had too much pride, fell, and then was picked up by God and told I needed humbleness.
This past summer a lot of things were going though my mind. I don't know how to explain it all, but I guess I wasn't sure if God wanted for me to snowboard for a career. I was thinking I would get my driving licence this fall before the snowboard season so I could go more often. Then one day when I was driving to Wellsboro, I came upon a school bus coming to a stop to let kids off. I didn't think I had time to stop and the bus's red lights weren't on so I kept on going. A guy on the side of the road picking up his kids jumped in his truck and followed me to my destination, where the police came and wrote up a report. The first thing I thought about when I thought about the consequences of my mistake was; "I won't have my licence for snowboarding". However, in the end I thankfully wasn't penalized. When I talked to God about this experience and what it was for I was given the thought and feeling that God had given me this experience so that I would know that He wanted me to go on with my pursuit of snowboarding. I felt like I had crossed a huge bridge over the Atlantic Ocean into Europe."Europe" was a new perspective, new area to explore, and now snowboarding would be something completely different and profound for me.
From my whole snowboarding story I guess a summarisation would be that my snowboarding life was about learning to listen to God and to always be open to new ideas. God is very profound.
What story? The story of me and snowboarding. Probably some of you would have seen this coming, but either way its is a story of many trials, errors, and excitement. Hardly anyone knows that even though snowboarding isn't my career right now and I haven't been doing it most of my life, it is a big part of me and has changed me not only in the ways that you around me see, but also spiritually. Yes, snowboarding has actually been one of the biggest things that has affected my life spiritually. So is snowboarding a religion to me? No thats not what I mean, its through experiences snowboarding or non-snowboarding experiences that have made me look at life differently and notice things in me that need to change.
Of course my story started back when I was younger. I used to be the little skier who liked to fly down the slopes at ski sawmill. I loved skiing very much then, I always wanted to go more times than I did in a year, but even as hard I tried to get my parents to take me more times I only ended up going once a year.
As any kid I have always looked up to a lot of people and I have always been one to hang out with older people. I had a few friends my age, but I almost liked my older brother's friends better. I don't know if its because I had a fascination with wisdom and found that in older people, if I wanted to be doing what the cool older people were doing, or if I was old for my age in my mind. The people I looked up to when I was a skier was the snowboarders. I remember looking at the snowboarders and thinking man, they are so cool, I want to be like them and snowboard.
So in 2007 I tried snowboarding for the first time. I wanted to be cool like a snowboarder should be, I didn't want the ugly orange helmet I was given at first and asked for a black or blue one instead. If your a snowboarder you can't be not cool it just isn't right.
I always liked to go skiing with a friend so Brooks Gleckner and I decided to learn to snowboard together. Neither of us knew what we were doing and we had no one to teach us so we looked ridiculous falling down all the time.
A hard thing to explain about snowboarding is that snowboarding has a feeling of i guess a freedom, coolness, and sweetness. I can't just tell you what snowboarding is like, how fun it is, and you will understand what I'm saying. Snowboarding is unexplainable you have to go out and try it. An analogy of this is a sermon, you can hear how great whatever the pastor is telling about is, but until you try it will you know the power and greatness of it.
I would like to point out that even as great a feeling snowboarding is, this is where snowboarding stops and God keeps on going. What I mean is snowboarding is all about the feeling, God goes way beyond just feeling.
Those totally cool feelings from snowboarding are I guess what kept me going every time I fell flat on my face. You can fall down every couple of feet, but each time you get a little bit farther and better your feeling of accomplishment goes way up. Every time I would fall down flat on my face I would get up with possibly snow on my face, down my neck, in my gloves that were soaked, and up my sleeves. Each time you fall you learn, the more you fall, the more you learn. I have this saying, "snowboarding teaches you to fall." So maybe thats what pushed me on, the knowledge that every time I got up I had more knowledge to feed to my knowledge hungry brain. learning how to fall is essential to keep from getting hurt and being able to learn from the fall. Some times you need to let yourself fall, because you know if you don't the results would be much worse.
After that first day I knew I would never go back to the skier I was, the future of snowboarding was much more exciting. Even as humiliating those days of learning were, they were the necessary experiences for my snowboarding story to become what it is.
The next year was I think when I started snowboarding in my backyard. At first I was very unsophisticated, I only used an old terrible plastic snowboard and a few metal pipes on the ground as a grinding bar. This was just the beginning of my crazy dedication to snowboarding.
In 2009 I had problems with forgetting what I had learned the year before. As a result I fixed that problem by going snowboarding more often the next year.
The next year was the year when my snowboarding life really changed and grew. This was the year I designed a more sophisticated grinding bar for better snowboarding in my backyard that got made. This was also the year my tricks got bigger, better, and increased in quantity. This was the first year I made a video of my snowboarding tricks from the season too.
Last year, 2011, was the craziest year of all. I went to New Hampshire to a place called Canon and another resort called Loon Mountain. Up north where the mountains and resorts are bigger it sorta feels like a dream. You can't believe just how amazing everything from the chairlifts, to the mountain, to the trails are.
Then something weird happened after I got home from New Hampshire. Anybody would think that a resort that is five times bigger and better than the one your used to, would be your favorite resort. However, I had developed a strong liking to ski sawmill, it is like a home to me now. Even as much I liked and how insane New Hampshire was, when I got back home I really missed my snowboarding home, ski sawmill.
The first day back at ski sawmill, was the biggest change that happened in my snowboard story. It was a great day, but then disaster struck. It was a good day still, but not even close to how I thought it would be a good day. On my third or fourth run of the day I went to do a trick, but when I came back down I caught my back edge. I fell about three feet with most of my body weight landing on my wrist. I felt a lot of pain, but figured my wrist was fine. However, after another run I knew I had done something to my wrist. I ended up going to the ER thinking I might have a broken wrist. I had been given good news though, I had only broken my wrist growth plate. I was still off of snowboarding for three weeks as a result though. Even after that God had given me an ability to stay happy even with how that day ended up being. The reason it was still a good day as a whole though was because of what I learned from the whole experience.
For a while after the incident I was faced with the question of asking myself what the reason for this experience was. I was sure there was a reason and that it was for me to learn something.
Eventually God hit me with the realization that I had pride. Not only a little though, I had a lot of pride in myself. I needed to be humbled and what I needed was to fall down snowboarding at my favorite resort when I was feeling all high and mighty and break my wrist growth plate.
The first thing this realization changed was how I was going to look at myself. No longer was I the best at the things I do well and couldn't mess up. I also now knew in my mind that I needed humbleness.
Then one night after that event when I was feeling scholarly I sat down at the computer and started writing a song. My mind was fresh with my problem and what happened in my earlier distorted mind. I was able to lay rhymes down really fast. Line after line it got better and better and it became a story in and of itself. It told the story of how I had too much pride, fell, and then was picked up by God and told I needed humbleness.
This past summer a lot of things were going though my mind. I don't know how to explain it all, but I guess I wasn't sure if God wanted for me to snowboard for a career. I was thinking I would get my driving licence this fall before the snowboard season so I could go more often. Then one day when I was driving to Wellsboro, I came upon a school bus coming to a stop to let kids off. I didn't think I had time to stop and the bus's red lights weren't on so I kept on going. A guy on the side of the road picking up his kids jumped in his truck and followed me to my destination, where the police came and wrote up a report. The first thing I thought about when I thought about the consequences of my mistake was; "I won't have my licence for snowboarding". However, in the end I thankfully wasn't penalized. When I talked to God about this experience and what it was for I was given the thought and feeling that God had given me this experience so that I would know that He wanted me to go on with my pursuit of snowboarding. I felt like I had crossed a huge bridge over the Atlantic Ocean into Europe."Europe" was a new perspective, new area to explore, and now snowboarding would be something completely different and profound for me.
From my whole snowboarding story I guess a summarisation would be that my snowboarding life was about learning to listen to God and to always be open to new ideas. God is very profound.
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