I remember traveling to Keystone, Colorado on a Thanksgiving ski training trip freshman year of high school. I was blessed to have the opportunity to train with some of the best downhill ski coaches & racers in the nation.
I was intimidated. I was naive. I was enthralled.
Being away from my family. Doing something that stretched beyond my imagination. Aiming for the stars (or more appropriately the mountain peaks).
I was so very out of my element, yet at the same time EXACTLY where I needed to be.
Do you remember the last time you felt that way?
Those days, I marveled at so much. Oftentimes we think that it’s older folks that have all the perspective. Ironically I feel my perspective has become so very subjective as I’ve grown older. Life sure has a lot more dimension, but where did the youthful, uninhibited perspective go?
Back in Keystone, we woke up early every day in our shared smelly budget hotel rooms. We didn’t care what the room was like nor the mess! We donned our cold, semi-wet gear, grabbed a dry bagel from the continental breakfast, and hopped in one of two rental minivans to head to the mountain.
The mornings were always quiet. Still waking up, cold, full of nerves, and not yet coffee-drinking youngsters, we snuggled up and looked forward to becoming faster each day.
Believe it or not…I was shy at the time. A quiet third child who didn’t recognize her strength. I was just happy to be there. A part of a team. A part of something larger. Holy shit did those mountains scare me. Just a girl from Minnesota who liked to hit gates, cheer for herself, and ski fast.
I found myself in the van in the first morning in the Rocky Mountains in complete awe. “That is just so beautiful” escaped from my mouth as we rounded the corner to a full windshield of the sun rising over snow-capped mountains. It took my breath away.
It made me pause.
Each subsequent morning drive to the mountain, as we rounded the bend and hit the view, our illustrious coach Erich would look in the rearview at me with a smile and say in his thick Austrian accent “just beeeea-oooutiful”!
Now that I think about it, I don’t believe he even knew my name. More importantly, I was the shy girl who brought the beauty of that perfect daily miracle to life.
Being so young and new to the world. Discovering beauty and challenge for the first time. I really knew how to Press Pause without knowing it. Now THAT is perspective.
I challenge you today. Look for something beautiful. Acknowledge it. And if you need a little help, try some CBD!
