Triumph over the Moutain on High
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Ever feel like you’re living in fear and not getting the most out of life because of it?
That’s how I’ve been feeling recently. I’ve been afraid of everything, from being unemployable to bad things happening to my family, to my relationships going sour, to fear of even random things like getting hit by a car as I walk on the sidewalk. I’m not sure what it was that triggered this, but it’s been sort of overwhelming recently. If there’s one thing I loathe, it’s living in paranoia, unable to truly live.
Among these random fears of mine was snowboarding. As much as it sounds like a fear of getting hurt, it really wasn’t that. My fears were much more indirect. I have a slight fear of heights, of being left behind by a group and of being awful at something i really want to be good at. To top it off, i have a wealth of bad experiences from the times that I’ve been before. Don’t get me wrong. I was lucky enough to have my friend Daryl patiently teach me to snowboard in Gunmaken, Japan where the snow was WONDERFUL and we got to go for two days. Every experience after that, however, went downhill quickly. For example, I once broke a rib when I caught an edge on the last run of the day. I didn’t realize it until years later when I was reflecting on why my chest hurt for the three months following my first snowboarding trip in California.
SOOOOO where am I leading with all this? Last Friday, Kimi and I went snowboarding at Mt. High as an act of facing my fears. And Kimi had a free pass. How could i say no?
Me, triumphantly standing at the top (well, close to the top) of the mountain
Not only was the day beautiful, but there was no icky ice on the slopes. The snow was soft and sort of like packed powder, though a little slushy in places. The first run gave me a chance to reacquaint myself with survival skills necessary to get down the mountain alive. After that, it was all learning and fun! Kimi is a great teacher and helped me even learn to do jumps! That’s a huge difference from the fear and trembling that i started with that day.
On top of that, we took part in the “Dash for Swag.” There was a radio station or something holding spring break events all day. The idea was that they would put a bunch of tshirts, goggles and stuff on the closest jump and we would have to run up and scramble up the hill to get free stuff. I have never hurt so much in my life. It *looked* way closer than it actually was. And snowboard boots are not exactly the most mobile of footware. I’m so out of shape that I nearly went into cardiac arrest! It seriously felt like my heart was exploding. Needless to say, it too awhile to recover. The worst part about it was that by the time we got up there, the first 3 guys took EVERYTHING. Booooo! So we trudged down the hill, and Kimi confronted the host of the event. “You lied to us about there being something for everyone!” she accused. He guiltily threw her a tshirt. She then pointed at me, “She didn’t get anything either.” So we both got matching Mt. High tshirts.
Here’s a pic of us with our matching tshirts!
And the best part is that we got to meet the Dark Lord while on the slopes!
All in all, it was the best experience facing my fears that I’ve ever had. What a satisfying day! And all thanks to Kimi who got me a ticket and pushed me to go and Perry and Rita who lent me their stuff! Thanks guys!
Go, Kat! And, thanks for putting me on the “nerd” list...I did so enjoy seeing your picture with Darth.
Posted by on 04/11 at 09:46 AMWay to face your fears, Kathequa! I’m proud of you!
Posted by laura on 04/14 at 06:47 AMKudos to Kimi for pointing out the false advertising! hahaha… Glad you went snowboarding. I’m dying to go, but the east coast snow has disappeared.
Posted by Dan Kim on 04/14 at 07:24 PM