Why Do We Ever Stop?

When I was a kid I had this sled. It was green, heavy plastic, and pretty ugly. We didn't have a lot of money so it was most likely old and secondhand, and it was definitely nothing like the other kid's sleds.

I loved this sled. It was the only sled I ever had growing because it was big, durable, fast, and far superior to the low quality expensive sleds I saw my friends sporting. Until I was 11, I lived next to a field that had a huge hill and each year I would spend hours joyously sledding in my big green sled.

Then I moved to a place that didn't have hills, and as I entered adolescence and my interests began to change, the old sled went into storage.

As we get older, these are normal progressions of life right? You get to a point where sled riding is no longer what is done, you are too old to sled. Either upgrade to skiing or give it up forever. I, like many, used to buy into that sentiment.

Until one big snow a few years ago brought me to the light. I was already on my journey to start doing what I wanted as opposed to what I'm "supposed" to do as an adult, and my first step was to dig out my old green sled and take a hill like the good old days.

I went to my mother's and began digging through the garage while simultaneously screaming upstairs, asking her where she put my sled. When she informed me that she had thrown it away about 15 years prior, I screamed and shouted that I couldn't believe she would do such a thing! But alas, my sled was gone.

I have not let her forget about the atrocity that was the disposal of the sled. So this year for Christmas my mom bought me a snow tube. Not quite my old sled, but
I figured it would do, and boy did it!

After a bottle of wine, my friend and I decided to take the tube for a trial run at a small park near her home. Nothing major, just a few small hills (we are getting older after all) but I'm telling you, it had been a long time since I had that much fun.

I took the first small hill, but instead of stopping I proceeded to slide out into the middle of the street. As I looked back, I saw my friend (who had brought her dog) being pulled down the hill by the dog which lead to a full somersault, then being dragged the rest of the way down the hill. It was quite possibly one of the funniest things I have ever seen.

We didn't stay out long, but long enough for a few hills, a few dog chases, a hill that threw me into a goalie net, a few snow angels, and of course my friend threw snow in my face.

When we were finished, I felt the exhilaration that I felt as a child and started to wonder why we stop doing the things that make us feel good. Is it because we are told that we are too old to do it, so we believe it and stop? Or is it something more.

My goal with this blog is to explore this exact theory. When we are kids, we know what we want and we know what makes us happy. Somewhere along the way however, it gets skewed, we start doing things that we are "supposed" to do, instead of what we feel in our hearts is the right thing.

Snow tubing for me was my eye opener. Experiences like these bring you back to who you really are, and I know I'm ready to experience much much more.