Old well-trodden paths grew tedious to me over time, I bored of my surroundings, I bored of London and I bored of life in this city. A dull grey had washed over the urban sprawl, rendering it limp of life. A trip to Toronto soon sorted me out though. One maple board later, and I suddenly have a brilliant new perspective of everything that surrounds me. Suddenly that route that I take every day on foot becomes the ride of a lifetime. The hill I hated to climb, a challenge. The faceless people who trudge miserably through town, an obstacle that I weave around with a grin on my face. Longboarding has already taught me a lot about happiness, particularly reinforcing to me how it is a lifestyle choice and not an aspiration.

I’m not that great at longboarding, let’s get that straight. But after about a month of riding I can honestly say that I feel an intense buzz when hitting a speed that’s a little faster than I’ve hit before. I am overcome with a sensation that I am flying. Released, with a fleeting freedom, from my own physical self.

Without getting uneccesarily philosophical, I do wonder why the simple act of longboarding is so good at unlocking a pure joy from within my soul.

My soul, as the greatest part of me, is the one thing I must learn to please and placate in life and longboarding seems to be a simple way to unlock an inner oft-bounded peace of mind. In short, there’s something pretty magical about coasting through life on a set of wheels, all working in unison.

Perhaps the simplest, and least pretentious, way of understanding this is by taking it on face value. Longboarding allows me to see life through a joyful lens, a lens that impacts all other facets of my existence for the better. It is an act that reminds me of a goodness that is always around me, but I don’t always see. Within this, there is a simple lesson to be learnt.

Never wait to be happy or ever work towards being happy. Just, do things that make you happy. Life is always lived in the moment and if you can’t be happy in the moment then you won’t ever be happy.

If you are stuck for ideas and want a potential fast track to happiness, Try riding a longboard. It works for me.

(Photo – Eli Woodbine, 2015)