No Room for EGO – Fat men can’t ollie…

If you’ve seen my older skateboarding videos (prior to branding the YouTube channel as MADCTY) you’ll know that last year I took up skateboarding with Liam my third son. As we got started we had a blast both at the skatepark and out on the longboards in through innovation place and on a trail from UofS campus to the Meewasin trail along the Cancer centre.

You also may or may not know that I completely ruptured my Achilles tendon at the end of August last year resulting in my leg being immobilized for a period of time, booted for another stretch and then never ending physio… a total of 9 months before I was back to being able to do what I like, and with that came some very real fear as I set foot back on a skateboard at the skatepark.

This video is from the first outing back to the Lion Skatepark in Saskatoon post tendon injury, and while some Fat men probably can ollie a skateboard, this one is not yet able to partially due to the fear of injury but I’ll get there.

The “no room for ego…” is really a mantra for living for me, I spent a lot of my young life concerned about what others thought of me, if they were judging me for what I was doing or not doing etc. As I grew older and dealt with the fact that I was projecting my own judgement of others outward forming the belief they must be judging me and stopped that behavior I became more open to be humble and comfortable in not knowing what I was doing, as well as becoming teachable.

I wish I’d learned that my judgement of others to inflate my self perception in my mind, was also the source of the fear of judgement that made me feel less than or that others felt I was less than… so much easier to be self accepting and therefore accepting of others… I no longer assume judgement, I assume acceptance because that’s what I give… I’ve also learned that even if they are judging – who cares, I’m awesome!

It’s important to note that while I enjoy the activities of being youthful such as skating, mountain biking, slacklining etc. I am 45 and have to recognize that my body isn’t as pliable as it once was and that I do need to treat it as such, which is why after my last massage in which my Therapist said “What the fuck Brian…” as it took a 90 minute session to release the backs of my legs and lower back – I have now integrated daily stretching and/or Yoga into my morning routine.