Can you remember a time when you had to face fear? Not necessarily a severe or debilitating fear, but anxiety that made you hold your breath – and a fear that held you back from being your true self?
I will never forget the day we went skiing in Europe. I was a total rookie, but the athlete in me looked forward to the experience. We had a crash course in skiing, and the instructor gave us one important message: to stay in the safe lane. The same slope was used by skiers and skateboarders. The green lane was meant for the rookies, the blue for amateurs and the BLACK lane was reserved for pros – the fastest of the fast.
I donned my skis and the horribly heavy boots and had enough adrenalin for the challenge.
And then it happened. At the very minute I reached the entrance to the green lane, a skateboard skier dashed in front of me, and I had to swerve right to avoid a collision. Right into the … yes, the dangerous black lane. Where the fast and furious were about to descend on me – the world’s top notches skiers and skaters. The take-off was fine, but then it came to the split, where all beginners knew it was obvious – head for the green lane. It was very, very slippery. I realised I had to stop myself by falling. In the process, I lost one of my skis and my stick.
My leg was hurting. I had to get down to the bottom, and my only choice was to do this on my bum. I couldn’t remove the heavy boots. I removed the remaining ski and left it on the side of the slope.
I cried all the way while bum-sliding down to the end of the slope. From here, I could phone the instructor and ask to be fetched.
My victory was that I could make a survival plan and get to the bottom. But my primary victory was facing my fears.
