We, like many other families this winter, decided to take up skiing. In the past, I have snowboarded but hadn’t skied since about grade five back when you would go with your school. We started out on the bunny hill and I got my five-year-old a 2-hour lesson. I was quite surprised to see him skiing fairly well within about three trips down the hill! After a full two days on the bunny hill, my husband and I nervously took him onto the big hill. Here is the first lesson I took from that trip:
- Don’t put yourself in a box – My son can tend to be timid, sensitive, and scare easily. When we drove up we were justifying the ticket cost and saying “worst-case scenario, we lose the seventy-ish dollars if he gets scared and doesn’t like it.” We thought he’d be nervous of the steep hill or scared of the height and bustle of the chair lift. Well, he proved us wrong. He loved the hills and he loved the chair lift. In fact, I was the more nervous one watching him zoom down the hill. What’s my point? Don’t let your story of who you identify as, or who others may identify you as, get in the way of doing things you want to. Yes, you may be the “nurturing one,” or the one who takes care of others, but that doesn’t mean you can’t also prioritize yourself. You might not be known as someone who exercises, but you can start. Yes, you could be known as a hard worker, but that doesn’t mean you can’t rest. Avoid getting stuck in these limiting boxes, and you might be surprised with what you can do!
The second time we went skiing on the big hill a few things had to happen in order for us to get there and get skiing and four more lessons were had:
- Put your to-do list aside. Last week we woke up to a snow day. Monday’s I typically do admin work, and I had a decent-sized to-do list; however if I really looked at it, I realized nothing was pressing. How often do we get a dumping of 20+ cm of snow? I decided to seize the day, and head to the ski hill. I chose active rest and play, rather than being “productive” and getting my list done. And was it ever worth it! So I challenge you, at some point throughout your day or week, could you let something on the to-do list wait, and embrace rest or play?
- Ask for help and practice random acts of kindness. You won’t believe it, but when we got to the ski hill, I realized I had forgotten my JACKET. I had packed our lunches, I had gotten my son’s things ready, I had layered appropriately to be comfortable for the car drive, but I forgot my jacket that I was going to put on when we got to the hill. My first thought was, “well crap, I guess I am going to have to sit in the lodge and scroll my phone as my husband and son enjoy skiing.” But, I decided I might as well ask if there are options at the hill for people like me that forget their jackets (do other people do this? :P). I was so heart-warmed to learn that one of the Poley employees kindly offered his expensive brand-name jacket for me to borrow for the day. He didn’t ask my name or take any kind of value of mine in exchange for the jacket. He just trusted that I would bring it back. And I did after I skied for a solid three hours and had the best day. None of that great fresh air and quality ski time would have happened, had I not asked for help and had random acts of kindness not existed. So I challenge you when was the last time you asked for help? How did it feel when you were on the giving or receiving end of a random act of kindness?
- When you fall, get back up and try again. Lastly, I was so proud of my son. I already see perfectionist tendencies in him, especially with sports. And last time on the hill he fell multiple times. But, he kept getting back up and trying again. This same principle can be applied when trying to make lifestyle changes. If you’ve had a bad day or are struggling with being consistent, it doesn’t have to be all or nothing, just get back up and try again. The habit and consistency will come and the reward of feeling better will be worth it.