Skating with sweet pain

MANILA, PHILIPPINES. Today, I decided to ice skate with my brother and nephew at SM Megamall, one of the few malls in the Philippines that have a skating rink.

Ice skating is a skill I learned from my Canadian friends. Then, I was afraid to hurt myself and I was ashamed to stay in a cordoned area with the kids as I rise and fall, finding my balance; putting all my body weight (with the excess pounds) on metal blades that are supposed to kiss and slide on the plate of iced floor. Yes, I was shameless.

It is funny recalling that time when my fellow skaters give me a look of mercy. Everybody in Dalhousie’s ice skating rink wants to help me. And I felt that everyone, young and old, wants to help this chubby brown hobbit to learn ice skating. The bad falls humbled my aching back. I may have suffered physically but that was incomparable to the happiness I felt when finally, the pitiful stare of my new found skating friends has turned into a blissful gaze. It is as if they saw in my hard-earned slides, a glow of whiteness in my deep-browned skin.

So when I returned to the Philippines, I made it sure to take home with me my cherished pair of ice skates. I still do not know the twists, turns and tricks of skating but at least I could slide forward, enough to circle around the skating rink. This time though, I am pleased to be in a brown ice kingdom feeling like a prince hobbit flying in the ice skies paying the same Canadian rental fee – for a skating moment.

When one is in pain, it helps to relive beautiful memories. For those moments powerfully possess a positive energy that rejuvenates an ailing body. This is what I celebrate by ice skating!