I Am Not A Gymnist Despite Moments Of Delusion - Number Two Fall

I am a bit delusional. In my mind, I can do a lot of things that in reality I can't. I can't sing. I can't swim a mile. I can't make cornbread. And most of all, I can't do hand springs.

But I should be able to! I can do backbends. Even today, as out of shape as I am. It is my special trick. I can just bend over backwards then stand right back up.

So, the summer of 1992 (I think that is right), I got really into the Olympics. Especially gymnastics. This was the summer of Kerri Strugg and the Dominics. They made it look so easy. I became confinced that I could do flips too. One night at the pool, I decided to test my theory. My plan was to do a backbend on the diving board then flipping over. I figured my landing wouldn't really be a big deal since I would just be hitting water. Also, I could do cartwheels and front handspring-like things off the diving board. Why would this be so hard?

With great confidence, I walked to the end of the diving board and did a backbend. All I need to do was kick my feet over. No problem, right? So I attempted this. As soon as my weight moved to my arms, one of them crumpled. I sort of slid of the side of the very rough diving board, scratching my back and arm quite badly. Somehow I curved to the side or something in my fall because I also hit my head on the side of the pool.

After reading all of these stories, it is a little surprising I have made it this long with no major injuries. The combination of showing off and being injury prone will probably kill me one day.