Mastering the J Turn…
I’ve had a story in the queue that I’ve wanted to share with you all for a while. It’s a story about my eight year old son, Charlie, skiing, self-admiration, and doing it afraid.
This past winter my husband and I decided to expose Charlie and Henry (the 5 year old brother) to skiing. While my husband and I don’t ski (yet) we see it as a life-long sport and if they love it, it could be a sport we could get into as well. So we courageously said YES to eight Saturdays of 90 minute ski lessons.
1st Ski Lesson: Questioning the ‘yes’ (aka WTF were we thinking?) …
We pulled in at 8am on the first weekend in January and the outside temperature read a balmy FOUR DEGREES (without the windchill). We spent the next thirty minutes getting all the snow gear on. For the record, getting little kids ready for snow activities could be an olympic sport in itself!
The boys lasted 27 minutes. And, those 27 minutes were spent learning how to walk in ski boots and balance on skis, which clearly felt like two giant foreign sticks attached to their feet. I drove away that day deeply questioning our “YES”, and wondering if skiing was going to be a Wik family sport.
2nd Ski Lesson: How you do anything is how you do everything …
We have an agreement in the Wik house that when we say “yes”, we do yes. We said yes to ski lessons, so we were clear we were all going to honor our commitment.
Don’t get me wrong - the boys begged us not to go back. Tears were shed. Fits were had. We may have had to bribe them each with a new toy. Yet, Steve and I were clear that this commitment was going to be honored to completion. Inspiration being: how you do anything is how you do everything. If we said yes, and then did not fulfill our commitment, then what else in our lives were we not fully committing to?
4th Ski Lesson: Practice makes progress …
By the fourth lesson the boys were making, what I considered to be, significant progress. For my readers who are skiers, you know about the importance of mastering the “pizza slice”. Charlie and Henry must have gone up and down the same tiny “hill” 60 times practicing the pizza slice stop. At one point Charlie called me over and said “this is boring - we keep doing the same thing.” To which I then replied, “yes, you may experience it as boring and practice makes progress … you are making incredible progress and I am proud of your practicing!” Back out there he went!
7th Ski Lesson: THE J TURN PRIDE …
The time had come - Charlie and Henry were advancing to the “J turn” slope, to learn how to turn while going downhill and then stop. Mastering this would mean they could officially hit the slopes (the bunny slope).
The boys were on brand - Henry went for it, Charlie refused. He called me over and admitted he was scared and didn’t know how to do it. I said, “Charlie I believe you - I get that you are scared, and the only way forward that I see here is to do it afraid - Can you go do it afraid?” He got back out there … by the fourth time down Charlie was a pro and grinning ear to ear.
Then, that afternoon, once we were back home and cozy on the couch, Charlie gifted me a massive leadership lesson. I asked, “Charlie how did you feel after you went down that hill today?” to which he immediately replied with “I felt proud. I feel really proud of myself right now!” Then, thinking nothing of it, Charlie went back to playing with his toys.
Meanwhile, I am standing in the kitchen navigating feelings of shock, pride and envy.
First, shock - that Charlie said OUT LOUD that he was proud of himself.
Second, pride - that I have a son courageous and present enough to honor himself.
Third, envious - that I often struggle with the practice of celebrating myself.
This got me thinking - when was the last time I said “I am proud of MYSELF” out loud? When was the last time I paused to honor my own accomplishments/milestones? I will reluctantly admit the answer is: TOO LONG.
So, I invite you all to join me AND Charlie on the court and practice SELF-ACKNOWLEDGMENT. What is one thing you can celebrate about yourself today? Say it out loud and proud.
For many readers it may be time to stop squelching your own flame … after all, a candle loses NOTHING by lighting other candles!
Courage Always,
P.s. Ready to get on the court with self-acknowledgment in a MUCH bigger way? Then join us for the Alchemy Leadership Experience, where you will be surrounded by 24 other leaders who have much to be proud of, many of whom have yet to say it out loud!
Registration for September 9th - 11th, 2024 is now live - act now as a powerful way of acknowledging yourself. Register below.
P.s.s. For any of my readers thinking “WHAT ABOUT THE 8th SKI LESSON?” let me take you out of your misery and share that it never happened …. Upstate NY gifted us 50+ degree weather at the end of February, shutting the ski season down very early.
