Last week was the kids’ winter break, so Dan and I took them to Lake Tahoe for some fun in the snow. We were joined by a couple of friends and their two boys. There was ALOT of boy energy in our rental cabin. And it was a blast.
It was also my first day back snowboarding after taking off about 3 winters. First I have to say thank God for muscle memory. And second…
I am my own worst enemy.
I was so afraid of getting hurt. I was nervous on the ski lift, worried that I’d fall getting off of the lift, and hesitant to make turns from my heel edge to toe edge.
My body was doing it, but my head was still plagued with anxiety. Which made me feel shaky.
I told myself to breathe and to lean into the turn. But for most of the first few runs down the mountain, I was completely in my head. And the longer I waited to turn, the scarier it felt.
Then I took a breathe and made a turn.
I breathed through the scared and just leaned in. After doing this a couple of times, the anxiety left, I got out of my head, and I started to have fun.
Isn’t that a great metaphor for life?
Those moments when you are scared, worried, hesitant, stuck in your head… those are the moments when you stop your forward progress, stop having fun, or you get hurt. Because when you are racing down the mountain, it’s safer (& ultimately more fun) to relax and lean into the turns.
When you hesitate, you get stuck in awkward spots. When you worry about falling, you are more likely to catch an edge and take a tumble.
Or you wear yourself out doing the “safe” thing (like riding my heel edge all the way down the mountain… in my head it seemed safer, but in reality it made my legs tired way faster than turning would have — this is just like in a car riding your brakes down a mountain which can wear your brakes out and be dangerous).
My lessons from snowboarding:
- Stop fighting forward progress in the name of ‘safety’.
- Get out of your head & trust your body.
- Relax, breathe, and have fun!
Where in your life are you wearing yourself out doing the “safe” thing?
