Overcoming my fear of skiing

Today was monumental.

I have had a fear of skiing, both downhill and cross country, for many years.  I dislocated my knee cap 18 years ago, so the thought of skiing scared me to death. Furthermore, I hate snow and I hate being cold.  

Last weekend, my husband and I went snow shoeing, which I do like.  I have a lot of control over that, and falling isn't often.  We decided to snow shoe at the golf club which I am a member.  No golfing happening now, so it wasn't an issue.  Living in the Appalachian Mountain range, the golf course is quite hilly.  So, it was a challenge and a phenomenal workout.  While we were snow shoeing, we saw cross country ski tracks.  The snow was quit deep, and we were often thinking that cross country probably would have been a little easier than snow shoeing that particular day.

After snow shoeing, we met a couple friend for dinner and this couple are snow birds.  They love skiing, and in fact, they both have worked on ski slopes in Colorado.  Through this conversation, I thought maybe my husband and I would rent a pair of cross country skis to try it out.

Today was the day.  The weather was beautiful, sun was shining and the temperature was in the 40's.  An avid cross country skier recommended a particular canyon to go to learn how to ski.  This canyon follows a creek and is relatively flat, with very small inclines.  My husband and I embarked on this adventure.

We had a blast!

I watched a video on the basics on cross country skiing.  It was very helpful.  The only thing I didn't watch, and should have, was how to get up after falling.  We traveled more than 6 miles, and I fell 5-6 times.  I was actually happy about that.  The one fall was particularly interesting, because I right on the edge of the creek and was fearful of falling in.  I could not get up for anything.  At one time I was on my back with my skis in the air.  My husband politely reminded me that he didn't think that was going to be much help.  I finally got up, but not gracefully at all.

We also decided to climb a rather steep grade that wasn't part of the canyon.  Climbing was a work out, but fun.  When we go up to a bend, and realized the hill just continued up and around the next bend, we decided to turn around and go back down.  This was when we realized that we probably didn't make the best decision.  For a newbie, going down hill on cross country skis is not easy.  In fact it was quite rough and very scary. A couple of tumbles later (Thank God nothing is broken!) we made it down to the bottom.  We celebrated at the bottom.

This particular fear was mastered.  I loved it! I want to go back soon.  I want my own skis.

Why is this important to me realize?

How often do I get students that have a fear of something.  Possibly a fear of math all together, or a fear of tests, or a fear of working with others.  There could be a long list of fears a student may have.  My job is to try to help them overcome those fears.  My job is to find the beginner's canyon trail to help them move forward.  As I did with learning today, I had failures.  I fell, and I fell again.  I stepped on my own skis, and my husband's skis.  Coming down the hill, I wanted to cry.  I wanted to just sit down and not move.  But I didn't.  Overcoming those obstacles made me proud, and made me love cross country skiing.  Not quite ready for down hill, but frankly, that fear isn't s profound as it used to be.

If I can help one student this year overcome a fear related to math, I will be thrilled.  I will feel accomplished.