Category: Skating

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For The Win Singapore

Just launched a new site last night. It’s mainly going to be a site that showcases inspirational videos of Singapore.

We all go to work, go home to family, think about going for a holiday only to realise that holidays might not have hit the spot.

There are many things we can do that is out of our routine. Things that make us feel alive. Things that others in Singapore have already done and are enjoying immensely on a regular basis.

The teacher that rides a horse on the weekends, the guy that cycles about 100km every week, the office girl that brings her longboard to work and the audio equipment salesman that has his own shop with a full racing track hosting remote control car races every other evening for neighborhood kids.

What inspires you? I hope some of the wonderful videos on FTW.sg will.

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I rather fail at something I love

I would rather fail at something I love then to be successful at something I hate
Photo Credit to derekgh

What do you love? What motivates you daily to take on the challenge of tomorrow? What makes you try and try again without the slightest clue of when you will ever succeed?

Passion.
Enthusiasm.
Commitment.
Conviction.

These are just letters strung together and called words.

What do you have to show for what you love? But then again, why is there a need to show anything for what you truly love.

This video Freeling really captures this love very well.

Enjoy.

Freeling from Andrew Lovgren on Vimeo.

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Commit

Curb at Xtreme Skatepark East Coast Parkway Singapore

To commit to something you want to do is easier said than done.

You know what you want to do and you run thru the steps in your head.

You look at the challenge infront of you and  tell yourself you can do it.

You step up to the challenge and choke.

 

You step up to the challenge again and choke again.

 

Each challenge is new, each challenge is more difficult than the last.

You think to yourself on the worse that can happen and realise it can’t be that bad.

You step up to the challenge again and you fail.

 

People around you laugh at you.

People more experienced tell you what you are doing wrong.

Some just shake their heads and walk away.

You tell yourself its hard, but you know you know your stuff.

 

Commit.

 

You step up to the challenge and you fail.

You step up to the challenge again and you fail.

You step up to the challenge again and you fail again.

You step up to the challenge again and you almost done it.

You step up to the challenge again and you fail.

You step up to the challenge again and you wipeout.

You groan in pain.

You feel like giving up.

 

Commit.

 

You step up to the challenge again and you fail.

You step up to the challenge again and you were  slightly better.

You step up to the challenge again and you fail.

You step up to the challenge again and you nail it.

You smile.

 

No one celebrates with you.

Nothing really happened.

 

Commit.

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Passion and Refocusing

My mom told me when I was much younger “either you do what you like or do what you are naturally good at.” I think that’s so true and wise even up till today after having 3 kids. We all need to be doing something that gives us enough drive to make us want to continue.

If you are feeling tired and fatigued, you are not alone. If you are feeling that all you are doing is just to make ends meet, you are not alone. If you are putting off the things you need to do in the next few years to achieve your dreams, you are not alone.

I know a few of the skaters featured in the above video “Grind & Air“. We used to skate together and its great to see some are still skating and kicking ass. To me, I think they made it. They kept with their passion and consistently improved their craft. I’m really proud of them.

In Singapore, there is no money in skating. We don’t have big skate brands from Singapore, skating is not main stream, its a sub-culture. So to keep at it and still have the drive, to me that’s true passion. You need to set aside time for it, you need to commit.

Of late I got caught up with lots of stuff, work, having Clara, kids education, twitter, facebook, etc. The next thing you know, so much time have slipped by and all I want to do is rest. Its a vicious cycle. I blame it partially in the fact that we are all so connected, we are all so online, we are all so distracted. Peter Bregman explained it best in his article Why I Returned My iPad. I agree with him, the problem is me, its not my iPad.

I’m sick of it, I’m sick of myself. So now, I’m gonna refocus, I’m gonna take away distractions, I’m gonna set aside time, I’m gonna commit. I’ll get back to do stuff that I like and stuff that I’m good at. I’ll refocus and get back on track with my passions.

A few more beautiful skate videos below for motivation and to remind us all not let go of our passions. Keep rollin… Keep your passions alive…

MADRID LONGBOARD from Juan Rayos on Vimeo.

skate – shot on red #1347 – 120 fps from Raphaël Aupy on Vimeo.