Snowboarding

I’ve had only 2 snowboarding lessons so far. The third one is tonight.
There seems to be a life lesson imbedded in learning how to turn. Last week, I had such difficulties making turns. I’d start to turn, feel terrified of picking up too much speed, face away from the bottom of the hill, and then have a terrible time forcing my body to move in a direction it didn’t want to go. It took everything I had to swing myself around to change directions. I had to force every muscle in my stomach and back to respond in a way that they didn’t want to. I'd end up riding straight into the treeline of the slope, or I'd crash. Again and again. Resisting.

It wasn’t until I totally committed to going down the hill. Let myself accept that it was the direction that I had to go in, and enjoy the thrill of the speed that I picked up, that I was able to turn effortlessly. I just remember flinging my arms wide open as I started speeding down the hill, and I felt my body ease naturally into a sloping turn.

Snowboarding and life lessons? Maybe a bit of a stretch... but I am enjoying the ride. : )