- Joined
- Aug 24, 2019
Hi there. I am a competitive figure skater. But what is figure skating to me? This may seem long and cringey but I needed to get it out there.
The minute I stepped onto that ice for the first time, something just hit me. A wave of assurance that this is me. Skating is what I want to do. It's what I was born to do. And the moment I discovered that was one of the most important moments of my life.
After that, I started to come to the rink more regularly to public sessions. Then got my own skates and started on group lessons. I started doing privates. And before I knew it, I was competing.
Sometimes, when I have a bad practice, or a bad competition, I ask myself, why am I skating? What's the point in this?
Well, figure skating is what makes life so worth living. When I skate, it feels like nothing else matters except me and the ice. It's like all the stress, all the worries, bad times, tough times, scary times, they all seem to disappear. I feel on top of the world. I feel free. I feel like I can do anything, take on everything.
Sometimes it can be hard to keep going. Skating is a sport, its physically and mentally challenging. First off, the amount of injuries I get is crazy, I'm always in pain because of skating injuries. And mentally, it can be difficult to keep motivated. Sometimes you just want to go home and sleep.
But in figure skating, we're always trying to improve. To land that jump. To skate that clean programme. We're constantly looking to get better. And I know that all of you, no matter what level you are at, how old you are, how long you've been skating, all of you will have gone through a bad practice. Or felt like you're not good enough. Or you've lost your strength to keep going.
But I also know that all of you want to be the best skater you can possibly be. So if you want to land that jump, skate that clean programme, then you've got to get up. Stop lying around. Even on those tough days when you want to quit, don't. Keep going. You'll get there. I know you will. But you have to work for it.
And when you have worked for it, and you finally land that jump, it will be a wonderful sensation of happiness. All the pain, everything you've pushed through, it will all be worth it.
So before you put on those skates tonight. Before you step onto that ice for the biggest competition of your life so far. Just remember the little you who put on their first pair of skates, and fell in love with this sport the minute their feet touched the ice. That little version of you is still in there. So when you compete tonight, skate for them. And skate for you.
This has been what figure skating means to me. Please let me know why you skate. I'd love to hear all of your feelings and stories.
Thank you for reading
The minute I stepped onto that ice for the first time, something just hit me. A wave of assurance that this is me. Skating is what I want to do. It's what I was born to do. And the moment I discovered that was one of the most important moments of my life.
After that, I started to come to the rink more regularly to public sessions. Then got my own skates and started on group lessons. I started doing privates. And before I knew it, I was competing.
Sometimes, when I have a bad practice, or a bad competition, I ask myself, why am I skating? What's the point in this?
Well, figure skating is what makes life so worth living. When I skate, it feels like nothing else matters except me and the ice. It's like all the stress, all the worries, bad times, tough times, scary times, they all seem to disappear. I feel on top of the world. I feel free. I feel like I can do anything, take on everything.
Sometimes it can be hard to keep going. Skating is a sport, its physically and mentally challenging. First off, the amount of injuries I get is crazy, I'm always in pain because of skating injuries. And mentally, it can be difficult to keep motivated. Sometimes you just want to go home and sleep.
But in figure skating, we're always trying to improve. To land that jump. To skate that clean programme. We're constantly looking to get better. And I know that all of you, no matter what level you are at, how old you are, how long you've been skating, all of you will have gone through a bad practice. Or felt like you're not good enough. Or you've lost your strength to keep going.
But I also know that all of you want to be the best skater you can possibly be. So if you want to land that jump, skate that clean programme, then you've got to get up. Stop lying around. Even on those tough days when you want to quit, don't. Keep going. You'll get there. I know you will. But you have to work for it.
And when you have worked for it, and you finally land that jump, it will be a wonderful sensation of happiness. All the pain, everything you've pushed through, it will all be worth it.
So before you put on those skates tonight. Before you step onto that ice for the biggest competition of your life so far. Just remember the little you who put on their first pair of skates, and fell in love with this sport the minute their feet touched the ice. That little version of you is still in there. So when you compete tonight, skate for them. And skate for you.
This has been what figure skating means to me. Please let me know why you skate. I'd love to hear all of your feelings and stories.
Thank you for reading