As skaters we all know that skateboarding is not just a sport but also like a form of art. The endless possibility of moves, tricks and styles can be easily compared to other bodily arts like dancing or the martial arts. That’s why it’s possible to express the qualities of being true, kind and enduring through the art of skateboarding.

So let´s start to act according to the well known motto "skate and create" and give our skateboarding a deeper more positive meaning with the power to transmit it to the world around us.

The following are some thoughts meant to serve as an inspiration for working on the values of truth, kindness and endurance through skateboarding.

Truth

How can truth be experienced and expressed in skateboarding? The answer lies in understanding the reason for our skating. It might be simply the attractive feeling of gliding along in a standing position or to use it as an effective way to clear our minds from everyday trouble. The reason might also be to use it as a fun workout to get fit and to stay healthy or to use it as an ingenious way of simple but effective transportation from one place to another. If we become clear about this we will be able to integrate skateboarding as an inherent part into our lives, in contrast to regarding it merely as a temporary fashion. It will also enable us to create and perfect our skating style according to our realization and to become true skaters, who will support their style of skateboarding under all circumstances. This honesty of staying true to our realized principles can then be carried over into other aspects of our everyday life.

Kindness

Kindness can be expressed by performing your skateboarding style in a beautiful and uplifting manner so that others will be affected by it in the best possible way and feel the positive energy. To achieve this it is important to cultivate goodness in your heart. Smoothness and efficiency of the movements are also important aspects that will naturally attract others. Whenever we skate we have the chance to do our best to keep up the stoke in the community of fellow skaters and also let other people see our kindness by way of our bodily expression. If someone wants to learn skateboarding because of our impact, we can help that person in a kindhearted manner, that might result in the enrichment of his life with a pleasurable activity that can be of benefit in many ways and can also lead to more bodily fitness. By skating consciously in a caring mood of kindness, this spirit can influence others to act in the same way. In this way we can counteract envy and unnecessary competitiveness amongst skateboarders.

Endurance

Endurance in skateboarding will be expressed whenever we learn something new or work hard to improve our style. To make progress in skateboarding we need time and consistency. Often we will have to really dedicate ourselves to get a trick done or to develop a clean style. It is also very likely that we will fall and get hurt and usually we have to try again and again before we can achieve the desired result. That’s why in skateboarding we can experience the general principle of „having to loose in order to gain“ in a very direct way. Only if we can endure and will be able to leave our comfort zone, we can let go of emotions like fear or laziness which are restricting our progress. In this way we can use skateboarding to develop endurance as an important aspect of the characteristic of forbearance which is a powerful virtue in everyday life as well.