Lessons from the slopes and a broken hand

Happy Monday

How was your weekend?

I hope all those who live in Havelock North and have been sick are now on the road to recovery.

Though I haven’t been sick I am on the road to recovery…I broke my hand!

I actually broke it a couple of weeks ago after breaking boards in my taekwondo practice. I broke two boards along with a knuckle 😉

(Not quite as graceful as this guy 🙂

At first I thought it was just badly bruised but after seeing Ross the Hand Therapist and an x-ray later I can confirm it’s a classic boxer’s fracture.

Anyhoo

In today’s newsletter I want to share some lessons from the mountain

On Friday I took the day off to head up to the mountain for some snowboarding

As I drove away from cloudy Hawkes Bay I was greeted with a beautiful sunny day at Turoa (I took this shot as I just turned off from the Taihape Road)

Here are my 4 lessons learned on the slopes and in life

I think skiing/snowboarding is a tremendous metaphor for life

1 – Sometimes we just need to take a leap of faith

When you’re at the top of the hill, sometimes the only thing to do is take a few big deep breaths, believe in yourself and just push off. Nothing makes people fall more than when they’re overly cautious, or only ready to dip their feet in. In skiing and in life if you don’t want to fall then commit 100%, have the self belief, take a leap of faith and just push off.

2 – We only grow on the really tough runs

If you only ski/board down easy hills on easy runs you probably won’t fall. BUT you probably won’t ever get better. You need to stretch yourself and get comfortable being uncomfortable. If you really want to grow then find a challenging run, something that will push you to your limits. Take a leap of faith, commit, lean in to all the turns and conquer your inner Everest. You will never know how high you can climb if you never try.

3 – When you fall down…The only thing you can do is get back up.

The only way to get down a mountain is to make it down by yourself. Even the best skiers/boarders take tumbles. The key is to not let this stop you. There is nothing more satisfying than making it down a challenging run, looking back up at the mountain and seeing what you have just achieved

4 – Focus or fall over

When you’re focused on the run in front of you, you tend to hit a flow like state. You ski/board with ease and everything just feels right. On the other hand as soon as you start thinking about all the other “stuff” (the calls you need to make, what you’re gonna have for lunch etc) you fall on your face. When you’re not focused and present with what you’re doing the skis seem to veer off in different directions.

Part 2

5 Random Snow Facts About Me…

1 – I grew up skiing

I was a skier for many years before I turned to the darkside snowboard

2 – I spent 3 months snowboarding in Canada

When I was 19 I headed over to Canada for the ski season. The plan was a cash in hand job and some time on the mountain. The only problem was that I didn’t have a working visa and couldn’t get a job. That meant I had a lot of time up the mountain. It was at this point I thought I would take up snowboarding

3 – I spent 5 years in Queenstown

I only planned to go for one ski season. The thing is that everyone told me how good summer was, so I stayed and at the end of summer well everyone told me that it was going to be the biggest dump ever this year. So I stayed. And thus the cycle begun

4 – I was in an Avalanche

Yes I was in an avalanche. A few years back a friend and I thought it would be a fun idea to hike up a mountain into the back bowls and go tobogganing. As we were flying down the mountain suddenly it just gave way.  Fortunately that day the mountain took pity on us and spat both of us out.  I have never been so scared in my life.

5 – I came so close to heli riding

Heli-riding is on the list of things to do before I die. While living in Queenstown I was fortunate enough to train a client that owned a Helicopter company. Each season she would put me on the reserve list. Essentially if someone has booked a trip but cannot go for whatever reason they would give the place away to someone on the reserve list. I sat waiting and eager on the reverse list for years but never got there. I did however get my fair share of chopper rides 🙂

That’s it for today’s post

Paul “make the jump they said, you will be fine they said” & Krystie ”Why did you listen to them” Miller