on overcoming fears...

Ohhhh beautiful Yuzawa mountains! The scenery was splendid and boy did we get a good view from the top. Though I'll admit, I could not enjoy it as thoroughly as I wanted because I was wobbling down the slopes. (notice the strange stance of mine...that's me in 'shocking pink' ski pants)

Two years ago I severely sprained my knee downhill skiing, to the point of almost breaking it. I had to be snowboarded down in a sled by two emergency patrollers. Fun skis, the ones I was wearing, also known as short skis, whatever you call them, are very dangerous skis. They are short so they are very easy to maneuver and pick up speed like silver bullets. The skis are strapped to your feet so if you fall, they do not pop off like normal skis...ouch, hence my terrible sprain. Since then I have been terrified of the ski slopes and I have only gone cross-country skiing.

So this past Saturday was kind of a test for me, to prove that I could get over my fear of skiing. To make sure I would get over my fear, I bought a set of ski equipment so I would not back out of skiing. Talk about stupid determination. One of my students, Tsutomu, though engineer by profession, is a professional ski instructor. He was kind enough (and did I mention patient?) to teach us for over two hours. I do not remember being so hopeless on the slopes, but for some reason my legs did not want to cooperate. Fear caused by my previous ski accident prevented me from making progress. With some gentle coaching and convincing, I was able to learn how to ski again. Later in the afternoon Hirotsugu coached me more and gave me some useful turning tips. I am happy to say that I am over my ski-phobia and am already looking forward to the next ski season (as this one is practically over)!

Getting over fears: make a plan, do things to make it as difficult as possible to back out of the plan...finally, execute and face your fear head-on.