Paul Bunyan, Move Over.
This past weekend I was invited to an axe throwing party; you heard right, axe throwing. I laughed out loud at the idea, but was willing to give a whirl, or should I say, a throw…ha. My son and daughter-in-law were also invited and I looked forward to spending the evening with them and other friends.
Upon entering the Bad Axe Throwing establishment, we were ushered to our assigned area. One by one, the party goers arrived; teams were picked and team names were established. Our axe throwing coach, Carlos, described the rules and demonstrated the different axe throwing techniques; along with what not to do.
Teams: the Flannels and my team, the Lumber Quacks, were ready to get the competition started. The first game played was “Bad Axe” and the first team to spell out the words, lost. We took turns going in pairs and whirling the axe at the target, three tries each; loser got a letter. My first three attempts ended in failure; nothing sticking into the target/board. My form started by raising my arms overhead as instructed, but somehow I would end up twisting to the side; more like swinging a bat….argh! My second round I used a different axe, trying to keep my overhead form and voila…..I managed to hit the target! OK, so it wasn’t actually in the circle, but hey, I made it stick and felt like I won the axe throwing lottery. I’m happy to report our team won.
The second game was the first team to get 50 points without going over, won. If the team went over, the score would be knocked down to 30. Round after round the teams battled, my son and his best friend were up. His friend went first and hit the circle to get exactly enough points to reach 50 for the Flannels. My son responded to the coach, “So, is the game over?” Carlos mentioned if he could hit one of the two small blue circles, our team could either take the 10 points or subtract them from the Flannels. Andrew aimed, threw and BAM…hit the center of the small blue dot. WOO to the HOO……the Flannels got knocked down to 40.
The game continued round after round until our team had 48 points. The only option was to score one or two points or risk going back to 30 points. Team members were leary to take a turn. Somehow, I managed to be the one that would risk it all. OK, I just needed to get one or two points but no pressure….UGH! I decided to use a heavier axe, took my stance, aimed, said a little prayer and released. Low and behold I managed to hit the target and get the remaining two points for 50! HOLY COW……high fives for everyone; we won!
After game two, we were instructed on more advanced throwing techniques; two overhead at the same time or under arm; none of which I was successful doing. It was a fun evening with good friends, meeting new people, having new experiences and laughing. Sometimes in life, we have limiting beliefs that hold us back from trying something new or going for a dream. I wouldn’t call myself an expert axe thrower, but I had fun learning the process, to that I say…..Paul Bunyan, move over. Life is about the journey; enjoy it step by step or throw by throw. What will your next step reveal?
xoxox…..Sheryl