Lessons Learned From The Bunny Slope

This past weekend I went with my wife and her family to Snowshoe Mountain in West Virginia for my first ever skiing experience...I have never been a big winter sports kind of guy...my idea of winter sports is watching college basketball while I lay in the recliner under a blanket...I tried ice skating once and almost died when I fell head-first onto the ice...so I was feeling not just a little trepidation for what would happen...to make a long story short, I didn't break anything, contrary to what I thought would happen...granted, I didn't make it off the bunny slope, but people were still getting injured on it, so for me to not get a broken something was still an accomplishment...and while I was there, I recognized quite a few life lessons that can be gleaned from my skiing weekend...it's sort of like Everything I Needed To Know In Life I learned While Skiing (or if not everything, at least a few things)...in no particular order:

• Anything worth having is going to take some work and pain
• Our day started on Friday by getting suited up and starting off with a three-hour lesson...so here we are, in the fog and snow, learning how to do advanced things like taking steps and moving...our instructor, a former Baptist evangelist, was showing us how to walk sideways up a hill...that wasn't so hard, but I can honestly say that my feet have never hurt as bad as they were at that time...I don't know if there was just no support in the boots or if I was just using my feet in a way I had never done before, but I was literally leaning on my wife trying to take some of the pressure off (she apparently was in no pain at all)...I was tempted to quit, but I figured that giving it only a half-hour was not exactly the 'old college try'...
• Then later, as we skiied, going straight was great...but then, at some point, I would have to stop or turn...that was not as great...it wasn't as easy as turning or stopping when walking...I actually had to think about it to do these things..."O.K., now which foot do I put pressure on? What do I do with the other foot? Is it called a wedge or a pizza? Why does this snow taste so gross?"...and invariably, I would wipe out...fortunately, none of my spills were bad; I was, after all, on the bunny slope...but as I watched as lots of other people, young and old, glide down the hill, I thought, "I wonder how many times they fell down?"...I'm sure it took lots and lots of spills and wipeouts to get as good as they are...so I guess if you want to get good at something and get to the point where it is actually enjoyable, you have to put the time and effort in and be willing to deal with some pain along the way...
• Pride doesn't get you anywhere
  
• As mentioned already, I didn't make it off the bunny slope...Marcy's niece, who is eight years old, made it up to the next level, the green slopes...I think, in my past, I would have taken this as a challenge to my manhood..."There's no way I'm going to let an eight year old girl be better than me! I'm going to the black diamond!"...and then they would be picking up my remains off of the mountain...you know what, in certain things, I'm pretty much OK with being a wuss...I may get made fun of, but at least I can walk today...
• Focus on the goal, or the day to day will wear you out
• On the second day of our trip, we went to a tubing run...they had four runs on the side of this huge hill with a mound of snow and ice between each one so you were sure to stay in your lane...we each had an inner tube on which we sat or laid down while sliding down this hill...each of the lanes were basically solid ice, so we were flying down this hill...it was very much fun, even when a group of us hit the wall at the end and I fell on my back on the ice (ouch!)...off to the side was a cable system that would pull us to the top of the hill...we would give the handle of our tube to the worker and he would hook it to this cable and it would pull us to the top of the hill for another run...all except for the first time, I laid on my belly while being pulled to the top...my neck was kinda' hurting from skiing (wrecking) and it hurt to look up, so I was staring down at the ice as it whizzed past while I made my way up the mountain...not a great view, and not very relaxing...but then I forced myself to look up at the top of the hill...it felt very serene to do this as I glided up the hill...I could see the line of people as they laughed and talked while waiting for their next turn to go down...I am reading Visioneering by Andy Stanley, started it on this trip...in it he writes, "God is using your circumstances to prepare you to accomplish his vision for your life. Your present circumstances are part of the vision. You are not wasting your time. You are not spinning your wheels. You are not wandering in the wilderness. If you are 'seeking first' his kingdom where you are, then where you are is where he has positioned you. And he has positioned you with a purpose in mind. (p. 45)"...it's easy to look at the day to day and feel like I am spinning my wheels, like I am just trying to stay afloat, like the ice of life is just whizzing by...but in my life and in my ministry I must look ahead to the long-range goals and plans...the reason I am once again looking for a stupid game to play or video to show to the youth is because I want them to enjoy coming to church so they can begin and maintain a relationship with Christ...the reason I am doing the dishes again or doing another home project is so that I can serve my wife and be an example of what Christ is with the church (I don't always do this example so well)...focus on the finish line, not on the step in front of you...

That's enough for now...I'm sure there is more, but I'm feeling hungry and would like to go to lunch...until later...