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Let go of the mountain

    Thinking about a ski trip to Whistler. I took it about 10 years ago with my friend, Susana.
    One day we hired a Mountain Guide, Vic, who’d toured us around both Whistler and Blackcomb mountains.

    About 2 hours into the tour Vic says, “Let’s go to the top of the mountain. There’s a great green run.” He shows us the trail map. All looks good. We’re on our way.

    Whistler & BlackcombAt the top we take off; Vic, Susana then me. About 10 minutes into the run my left foot starts inching higher, and within a few moments it’s parallel with my right knee. Plus, my left hand is comfortably resting on the side of the mountain.

    At the same time Susana and I stop. She’s about 3 feet ahead of me. Without saying a word we both know we’re in a serious predicament. To stay calm we pretend like we’re enjoying the view from nearly 7,000. She says, “Isn’t the view amazing?” I say, “Yes, it is.” About 30 seconds later Susana slightly turns to me. I can just see the corner of her left eye, and she calmly says to me, “If you want to get down, let go of the mountain and turn.”

    “Let go of the mountain.” Yep, that’s what she said.

    It’s a moment that’s life-defining. Did I want to run into my Mom’s arms and cry? You bet. Did I want to sit on my butt and slide down? Yes I did. Then I thought I’d become the largest snowball that would ever roll down the mountain.

    So with all the strength I could muster into my right leg, I turned and started a harrowing journey. It took a good part of the morning to get down, without falling … yahooo. At the bottom I turned to look at the mountain I just conquered and fell on my back, feeling so thankful I was alive. In that beautiful horizontal position I looked at Vic and asked, “Why did you do that to us?” His response … “Because I knew you could do it.”

    Lesson learned: Hang out with people who have more confidence in yourself than you do, then enjoy the ride.

    If you’re feeling stuck, let go of the side of the mountain and turn.

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