Saad Tasleem – What Skateboarding Taught Me About Life

			Salaam Alaikum. So recently I've been teaching my son how to skateboard. He came to me he wanted to
learn how to skateboard. And I said, Fine, you know, I'll teach you. Obviously, I used to skate. And
like some of you know this, I've lost most of my skills. I mean, I'm delighted still, I'm still know
the basics. But you know, I'm not that great of a skater anymore. But it's, it's cool to see that my
son is kind of getting into skating as well. He's five years old, by the way. So I actually didn't
remember how I was taught to skateboard. It was such a long time ago. And I was actually about his
age, or maybe a little bit younger when I learned how to skate. And I don't remember that how I was
		

			taught. I just remember, like, when I think back, I know, I just, I know, I learned how to skate.
And I got comfortable on a skateboard. I started skating. So I really had to think about the, the
the way, like, how do you teach someone how to skate. And so one of the first things I had him do
was, I wanted him to get comfortable on the skateboard to kind of find his balance. So I, you know,
I got him on the board. And, you know, his, the board started to move underneath him. And I was
like, Okay, yeah, so that's lesson number one, get comfortable on the on the board. It's, it's a
weird sensation when you stand on something, and it can move. It's got wheels underneath it. I know,
		

			some people, when they learn how to skateboard, they'll kind of put their skateboard on the grass or
something. So it doesn't move. I'm like, No, we don't have time for that, right? Get comfortable
with the board. I mean, I held his hand, obviously, I'm not going to let him go. But you know, I
held his hand, I'm like, Look, but you gotta understand the board is going to move. So get
comfortable with that sensation. And he was okay with that. And then he said to me, he said, Dad, I
think I might fall. And then I remembered a very important lesson about skating. And that is that
you're going to fall. And I told him, I said, Look, here's the deal. If you want to learn how to
		

			skate if you want to skate, and especially if you want to get good at skating, you have to come to
terms with the fact that you're going to fall it is inevitable.
		

			Sooner or later, you're going to fall And not only are you going to fall, you're gonna fall over and
over and over and over again. It's inevitable. And that is true for life as well. We know that in
life. There's no life where you don't go through difficulties, you don't go through tests and
trials. You don't face adversity, even someone who has lived like a fairly privileged life, they're
gonna at some point face some type of adversity obviously, the the type of difficulty that we all
face is different. Right? We may have different trials that we go through, but every human being
goes through difficulty of some type in their life and and to live a content life.
		

			A satisfied life, you have to come to terms with that, with that fact that you're going to go
through difficulty. But it goes beyond that we understand actually, as Muslims, we understand that
adversity is not a bad thing. adversity is actually a good thing. We know the prophets I send them
told us that if Allah loves someone, he tests them. And that is why the prophets, I think he was
sold out to a system. WordPress, Adam told us they were tested the most severe, more than any other
human beings, the prophets of Allah, the messengers of Allah, they were tested the most severely.
And so number one is an indication of a loss, love. Number two, it is through tests, that we get
		

			better that we get, you know, from a spiritual point of view, we get closer to Allah, when we go
through tests when we go through difficulty. And likewise, you know, with skating, the only way to
get better is to fall is to get hurt. And, by the way, I'm not saying that you don't take
precautions, obviously, you take precautions, you know, wear your helmet, you know, your your
kneepads, whatever else, but you still have to come to terms with the fact that you're going to fall
and you're going to get hurt. And that's why anyone who's skated anyone who's who's skied for any
period of time in their life, they'll tell you especially like professional skaters, or people who,
		

			you know, have skated a long time, they can show you the scars on their body, you know, their, their
wrist, their knees, their ankles, ankles are a big thing. You end up twisting your ankle a lot, you
know, some people break their ankles, it happens but to become a good skater, you got to come to
terms with the fact that you're going to get hurt. So that was, you know, I'm very important lesson
for him. And you know, I started thinking about how even in life, that's been an important lesson,
like on a personal level for me as well. I don't think I would be where I am today, unless I went
through difficulty in my life. Those moments of difficulty that we go through, it's either a
		

			learning lesson for us, or it's a moment that we may give up and lose hope. And so likewise, in
skating, when people fall they are
		

			either lose hope, or they, they give up. And I know people who have maybe skated for a little bit,
but then they fell off their board and they got hurt. And they're like, I'm never skating again. And
they never skated. Yet there's other people who
		

			skated, they got hurt, but they kept going. And that is how they became good at skateboarding.
Likewise, it's the same thing in life. There's another lesson for us as well, when it comes to
skating. And it's almost an extension of the lesson that you're going to fall. And that is the
following. So my son, I told my son, I said, you're going to fall I said, Look, instead of worrying
about falling, number one, as you know, they said, come to terms that accept the fact that you're
going to fall but instead of worrying about falling, learn how to fall. Now, what do I mean by that?
Well, in skating terms, one of the things you learn, you know, and this is stuff that I was
		

			recalling, I was remembering as I was teaching my son how to skate.
		

			You know, one of the things you learn when you start skating is how to fall. So there's, there's, so
there's a, there's a right way to fall, and there's a you know, wrong ways to fall as well. Let me
give an example of what not to do. So the wrong way to fall is to put your hands out, which is our
instinct, by the way, we try to break our fall with our hands. The The problem with that is that
when you put your hands out to fall, you're putting some of the most vulnerable parts of your body.
		

			You're they're taking the impact. So let's say you fall in your hands and your wrist is going to get
hurt, you're going to you know, you're going to you can break your wrist, you can fracture your
wrist, get a really bad sprain. And so you learn not to fall even though that's instinct, by the
way. So if you're not used to falling, and I actually fell recently, and I had forgotten that
lesson, I put my hands out, and I actually hurt my wrist. Because I've forgotten that lesson that
and that is to not fall on your hands. And so that's the wrong thing to do. Also, it's wrong to
panic, right? Once again, that's our instinct, it's normal, you don't know what to do you panic.
		

			What is the right way to fall? How do you fall when you escape? Well, number one, don't panic. And
that's not something you can force yourself to do. It only happens with experience, the more you
fall, the more comfortable you get with falling, the more you can think through your fall. And so if
you can think through your fall, if you can remain calm, then you can maneuver your your body in a
way to take the least amount of impact and the least amount of damage. So one of the things a lot of
skaters learn is to roll into your fall, using kind of like your back your shoulder kind of roll
into the fall. So you when you roll you you take the least amount of damage, but that only happens
		

			if you can become and so that's, you know, one of the right ways of how to fall. But how does that
happen? Well, it happens with, as I said, with experience, and by learning how to do that by
preparing for that fall. Likewise for us in life, it's important to prepare for the difficult times.
And you know, I'm not going to get into you know, worldly issues of how to prepare for difficulty.
Yeah, that's a that's an important topic as well. But from a spiritual point of view, how do we
prepare to fall? How do we prepare for the difficult times? Well, you know, as the Prophet
sallallahu sallam, he told us, he said, they're out of luck, either luck, or ha, era fuka efficient
		

			death should get to know Allah, in times of ease. And Allah will know you in times of difficulty in
times of adversity. What is knowing a lot well, knowing Allah is building a relationship with Allah
subhanho wa Taala, increasing in our spirituality increasing in our connection, you know, sometimes
we only make dua to Allah, when we're going through a difficulty. And that's, that's good. I'm not
gonna say it's a bad thing. Obviously, whenever we make the eye to Allah is a good thing. But
sometimes it's it's almost too late because we haven't prepared ourselves
		

			of how to make that, and what type of connection we're supposed to have, as opposed to someone who
in times of ease in their normal life, they, they constantly rely upon the law, even in the good
times. They're constantly making dua to Allah. There, they built that spirituality, they built that
connection with Allah. So when difficulty comes upon them because they've gotten to now recognize
Allah, they've gotten to know Allah, they've, they've gotten to love Allah in times of ease. Now
that difficulty comes upon them. At this moment. Now they know how to reach out to a lot and also
they will find comfort in their, they will find comfort in that reliance upon a lifespan of data.
		

			And that's one of the meanings here with my
		

			I said, a lot will know you meaning a love will provide you with that assistance alone will provide
you with the ease and comfort of heart. And so that is the point here. So just as with skating, you
know, we prepare
		

			for the difficult times, we're not afraid of the difficult time we prepare for it. Likewise, in our
spirituality is important. It is important that as you know, life is going good and we're having
good times that we don't forget about a lost penalty out of that we prepare for those difficult
times. And that is why our spirituality is not a part time thing. It is something that we as
Muslims, you know, we spirituality should permeate all aspects of our lives. And that's why when we
talk about Islam, you know, we say this is not it's not a religion, this is a way of life, right?
Our Deen is a way of life for us because we live that spirituality and so when times do get
		

			difficult, we are able to reach out to a Lost Planet out and find that comfort in those moments of
difficulty. Yeah, so I just wanted to share that with you. I apologize if I rambled on or gone on
for too long. But I just wanted to share a couple of thoughts that I had regarding skating and how
you know skating.
		

			There's lessons to be learned from skating as well. And last penny out of nose best. I'll see y'all
later inshallah. Giada take care of sidama equal 100 de la e barakato.