Monday, February 27, 2012

Squeeze the Juice Out of Every Day

It seems that life is a constant series of transitions. As someone who enjoys change, this has always been exciting and refreshing for me. It's not that I have an attention problem, I believe it has everything to do with wanting to sample everything life has to offer in this very small frame of time we have on this earth. Squeeze the juice out of every day.


My latest endeavor has been the addition of Roller Derby to my repertoire. This has shocked many. Just this weekend I was approached by a business associate and friend and was asked, "You're still doing that roller derby thing? I thought your need for it would be gone by now." Hmmph. At first I was insulted, then I was mad, then... I laughed. How odd it must be for an outsider to completely encompass what roller derby means, and has meant, to me.

As a child I would skate for hours on the handicap ramp of the St. Marys Baptist Church or in the playground at the neighboring elementary school. My first pair of skates were metal clamp ons and I wore the key on a red piece of yarn like a badge of honor around my neck. As I grew older I looked forward with anticipation to church events at the roller rink, and later would enjoy weekends with my best friend Ann Wilson at the Cavalier Roller Rink in Parkersburg.


Going off to college, I busied myself with studies (and parties) but never lost the love of skating. Finding my old white rink skates with purple wheels and pom poms, I would put them on and skate up and down the street whenever I had the chance.



Marriage, kids, work... decades would go by. I would still get that anxious excited feeling when the girls would be invited to the roller rink for a birthday party. My old white rinkers, long gone, it was necessary to rent skates at the rink now. Waiting in line I would get the familiar feeling of exhilaration to get those wheels on my feet and start moving. I couldn't lace them up fast enough.



At the parties, my kids were thrilled that their mom would skate with them, some parents were thrilled that they didn't have to go on the floor and drag their child around the floor in endless circles. Me... I was thrilled just to get the opportunity to skate again.



I have skated my whole life.



So here I am, 43 years old, one of the oldest ladies on the Hades Ladies Roller Derby team. Do I love it? Absolutely yes. Does it hurt sometimes? Hell yeah. Does it challenge me physically and mentally? You bet.

For a short period of time every week I can change into Mad Lids, leave work and worries behind and just enjoy skating. The real estate broker, on-the-go mom, board member, youth choir director, children's church teacher... all of the responsible, dutiful positions can go away... for just a little while... and I can let go.

Transition is key in life. Take something you love, transform it into something that changes with you as you move through your journey. It's old, but it's new.




Squeeze the juice. You only have today.