Taking that First Turn

February. 2016

February is off to a start, and with it, 1 month of funemployment comes to an end. Well, one month minus that one week where I did work...and with it cry every singly day. But I digress. Yes, I am launching into month 2 of funemployment and like all things in life, the lessons have begun to settle in and become more clear to me as they always do in time.

I guess this is an in-your-face reminder to me that life takes turns we cannot expect. Having just come off 4 days in a row skiing (ok, don’t feel too sorry for me!), my head is fresh of mountain air and a better understanding of how to navigate those turns, and how to pick ourselves back up when they don’t go as planned.

On our second day on the mountain, Alex took me up a lift called Siberia. I stood at the top and looked at the aggressive slant of snow below. Terrified. Finally, I took a deep breath and pushed off for that first turn. And then I tumbled half way down the mountain- sliding through snow, not really sure if and when it would end (in reality it was like 10 feet...). I was unscathed, but I was scared. I was embarrassed. I failed. But there was no other way out of here. I had to get down the mountain and so I picked myself back up, dried the tears, took a deep breath and made that first turn. 

What I found that day (and throughout the next 2 days as Alex took me up a run called Headwall and back up Siberia) is that taking that first turn is the hardest. It is scary as sh** as you stand there, peering down into a never ending bowl below. You have to find a confidence within yourself to just let go and start. Like my first run on Siberia, sometimes we tumble. Sometimes we fail. But then, we must pick ourselves back up, dry those tears, and give it a whirl.

It is with this courage that we get to where we need to go.