In downhill skiing the fear of falling can make you recoil, you want to sit back, and look for the easier path, but this is the exact opposite of what you need to do.
Instead.....
You stand at the start of the run, the tips of your skis balaced over the edge, lying suspended above the snow with all of the anticipation and kinetic energy of your whole run vibrating in the tips of those skis. The air is cold and you know that once you start the cold will bite your cheeks, nose, and lips.
The drop looks terrifying but you know that when you look up at it from the bottom of the run it won't look that steep at all, so you extend your body up. Straightening your muscles, joints and aligning your body into a skiiers active balance. Ready to absorb the unseen changes in the snow, the bumps, the ice, the soft or the 'gorilla' snow (it's a Pacific NW thing).
AND....
You let go....
-- Barely leaning forward in anticipation,
-- Balancing just slightly on the balls of your feet,
-- Your weight evenly distributed between your feet,
-- Your arms are up around 90 degrees and relaxed,
-- Your hands point down your chosen path
-- Your body ready to naturally orient itself in that direction
As you slip over the edge and into the run your hips, knees and feet turn around your center with pressure still forward slightly pushing the tips forward and shifting your weight to favor the downhill ski as you turn.
For the run of your life you want to 'sight your line', choose your path, plan your downhill track, commit the path to memory, breathe and engage. Not to follow where everyone else has gone but to forge your own path. The path that will take you around the icy mistakes that others have made and allow you the flip flop in your stomach as you execute the perfect turn on the edge of a rolling hill that gives you the feeling of weightlessnes and pure joy at being alive as you sink into the perfectly carved turn.
Such is Life... Yes?
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