Skateboarders Still Practicing determindly as they become Men

They were here at the Ulverston  Health Centre again tonight and they are definitely getting better.

I tried to estimate how many times they practise just one trick. You can work out a rough ball park figure:

If one attempt last ten seconds -which at their rate it must be faster-and they practise for over an  hour (sometimes they are here at least 90 minutes. Then that would be 6 in a minute: 6x 60 =360 in an hour that's 360 x 1.5 = 540 in an evening.

Say they've been here five times practising then that would be 540 x 5= 2500 times. All for one trick.

My, this shows some perseverance. They also have a circuit that they race each other and travel at speeds of in the region of twenty to thirty miles per hour.

This shows guts and the willingness to take calculated risks. Making judgements about what they can and cannot do.

This is a skill people that take physical risks develop. It's a skill that is typical of boys though there are some gutsy girls that develop it as well. For me it's the kind of behaviour that develops boys into men.

I can recognise this pattern of behaviour in myself.

In spite of having had I stroke, I'm thoroughly enjoying the challenge of picking the apples  out of our tree. I have to make judgements all the time as to how secure I am as I climb steadily higher into the tree to reach the apples towards the top. I thrive off the satisfaction of succeeding to reach more and more challenging apples that require me to climb higher and higher. Every minute I am testing the security of my hand-hold with my left hand: the one previously paralysed by my stroke.

I recognise the connection between my willingness  to take these physical risks and the strengths that I have developed in taking on difficult tasks.

I sure this characteristic contributed to my ability to run away successfully from boarding school at the age of seven and give my mother the shock of her life when I turned up standing outside her bedroom french window at seven in the morning having arrived at the local station on the first train of the day. I can still remember the fear I experienced of setting off in the early hours and stood still summoning up the courage to walk down the road under  very large threatening leafless trees in the early winter in the dark.: Their long tentacle looking bare branches stretching threateningly. Highly risky stuff for a seven year old. All worth it  because my determination resulted me in reaching home after having failed the previous two tries.

Then again this same spirit enabled me to travel my train boat, train, then underground across London in my journey from Paris to Birmingham at the age of eleven in 1946 : something unheard of in these days of fear-ridden Health and Safety.

No, I'm not going to criticise any youngster who develops the ability to develop risks of all kinds as they grow up into adulthood. Far from it : I give them every encouragement I can.

We need to encourage skateboarders as they persevere to hone their skills of taking risks of any kind in life.