Challenge by Choice

Recently I watched “Heritage,” a short documentary about one of the early professional skateboarders, Steve Caballero. At some point in the viewing, I realized more time was being spent on Steve’s mountain biking skills and passion for motorcross than on his skateboarding career, and I had to wonder why. 

If you’ve been a whitewater paddler, a climber, a surfer, or a skateboarder all your life, why would you want to try something new? You’ve proven yourself. You’re an expert. Why risk failure?

It occurred to me that maybe, just maybe, Steve wanted to experience the feeling of  improve at something new rather than watch his skateboarding skills plateau or, worse, decline. After all, progression is a lot more fun than regression. Sure, you might suck at it when you’re getting started, but the sky’s the limit in terms of potential for improvement.

So, in the spirit of sucking at something new, let’s dive into novice experiences and what we gain from trying something new.

What I Chose to Suck at

I’ve been a surfer all my life. I’ve ridden massive waves all around the world and was good at it. When I moved away from the ocean, I wasn’t able to get in as much surf time as I wanted, so I started whitewater kayaking. I never got to be an amazing whitewater kayaker, but I ran some big rapids, explored remote creeks, and progressed as far as I had expected. 

Knowing I wasn’t going to get much better at kayaking and knowing I was not surfing as much as I wanted to, I decided to try whitewater stand-up paddleboarding (SUP). At the time, I didn’t know anyone doing (more…)