Saturday, March 10, 2007

Snowboarding support

We headed to Northstar today, along with approximately 9000 other people (that's capacity, and I heard they did close the park!). I did NOT want to go. Why?
  • I didn't even bring my board, because a whole bunch of little aches and pains would only be exacerbated by snowboarding.
  • My confidence on the board is shot after taking a whole season off.
  • I had a million better things to do than sit in the lodge and do nothing while my family was having fun.
  • I didn't want to be the support crew!!!
Somehow I managed to get past my ty mood and decided to make a contribution and try to make the best of the trip (a la The Secret -- what you focus on really can happen). And the day turned into an awesome day in so many ways.
  • I parked the car a mile and a half from the resort and had a beautiful walk back, listening to Windham Hill music and loving the snow, the trees, and the sunshine.
  • Sitting in the lodge I took the time to read two wonderful books about how to eat -- books that I've owned for quite some time, but never taken the time to really investigate.
  • I got to be a part of all the fun Tim and the kids had, by hearing about their accomplishments and just by being there.
  • I shared my table with a man who was interested in what I do for a living.
So, let's talk about that last one for a minute. This man -- maybe in his 60s -- was standing against the wall, reading a huge boring work-like document. I offered him a seat, and he gratefully accepted. After a few minutes, he asked me if I was studying for something, and I told him I was a newly certified personal trainer and so yeah, I guess you could say I was studying. He asked me a few questions, then we went back to our reading. Then a few minutes later, more questions -- what does it take to be certified? what kind of clients do you have? What ensued was a really nice conversation about fitness and health and kids and grandkids (he was there with his wife, daughter, and grandson), and so on.

The reason I bring this up is that when I was "just a housewife", people didn't know how to talk to me. I attended parties on more than one occasion, and felt invisible and mute. Much of this may have been my own doing -- I'm somewhat shy in groups of people I don't know. But the point is that something very cool happened today, and it would not have happened if it wasn't for my new profession. And that, friends, felt great!

My final "good thing" of the day was my slow jog (1-1/2 miles at 7000 feet altitude is HARD) back to the car, which I drove right to the snowbooted feet of my family at the bottom of Home Run. On and at In N Out for dinner, I ate exactly 1/2 of my cheeseburger, and 7 french fries -- victory!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You'll never be invisible or mute to me.

With your words, I hear you though you don't speak, and see you though I am not looking at you.

Sounds odd, but your words say so much about you and your human qualities, you don't need to be infront of someone talking to their face, to make an impact.

You do that tremendously well writing stuff on here, and you should be so proud of the fact you give to others, without even being there.

So don't think your new focuses in life change the real you, because they don't. They redefine you, but you will always be you, deep down inside, and that's the best thing about you, the person that exists with the Heart and Mind of the body.

You are and always will be, an amazing and awesome person, for much more than just being a PT, and an endurance racer.

You have many, many facets to your personality, and human character, and that's a very important thing here.

You should always, always be proud of the person you have become. 46 years in the making, and what a fantastic journey to the end product, or as close to it, depending on whether you feel you're 100% of the you, you want to be.

Keep going and keep smiling, and know no matter what you do, you will always be thought of in the highest regard.

Best wishes Leslie, and have an awesome day.

:-) :-).

Matt

Pamela said...

Very nice !! sounds like you really have gotten the "way" to turn things around & find the "golden center" in any situation!