Splat!!!

I can’t roller skate. Believe me, I’ve tried. I’m such an uncoordinated mess that my feet always end up going twenty different directions resulting in gravity taking its undignified course. In other words—SPLAT!

When I was in college, I’d look at rollerblading students zipping around campus and sigh. Determined to become one of them, I’d strap on my rollerblades and take off. Splat!

I’d read articles about the fitness benefits of roller skating, and figuring that it was good for my health, I’d dig out the rollerblades and launch out boldly. Splat!

I’d read letters from my friends about the fun they were having rollerblading. Feeling that if they could do it—I could—I’d try again. Splat!

I’d watch movies where cute girls rollerbladed next to pretty beaches, and in a frenzy of determined ambition, I would strap my skates on again. Splat!

Now, some people would realize they didn’t have an aptitude for something and give up. Not me. I’m stubborn enough to keep trying until the truth becomes something I can’t ignore. Eventually, after one horrible fall that nearly shook my entire spine to pieces, I took off my skates for the last time and designated them to the dustiest corner of my closet. They reside there to this day. They are stuck behind my unused tennis racket and pair of high heels that I only wear on special occasions when “looking nice” trumps the risk of a broken neck.

Now, why am I talking about roller skates and my failure to master them? It’s because roller skates have taught me an important lesson. I’m me. And that’s okay.

For years, my life was a long, drawn out battle to feel like I “fit in.” Rollerblades became a symbol of that struggle. I wasn’t trying to skate because I enjoyed it, but rather because I felt like I SHOULD enjoy it. When I stopped trying to be something I wasn’t, I allowed myself to become the person I was meant to be. I will probably never zip down ocean-front sidewalks in my rollerblades, but I can zip around my computer writing my blog articles and stories. And you know what? I’m comfortable with that. In fact, I kinda like it.

God made each of us unique. I think that one of our responsibilities as human beings is to explore our uniqueness—and rather than despising it—embrace it.

“For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Psalm 139:13-14