So here is the story:
When I was in High School I went snow skiing for the first time with a group of friends. There were about 6 of our guy friends and then 3 girls, including myself. The guys were all great skiers and one of the girls said she was good to teach myself and the other girl how to ski. The guys took off shortly after we arrived, being assured that we were going to be fine. Here's how the rest of the day went. First, my friend who was "teaching" us had only been skiing one time herself. Yup, that's right, once! So the first thing that we had to accomplish was successfully getting on the lift. It's a little bit tricky to even maneuver yourself in line, which we did with moderate success, but we did manage to get on the lift. We started up the mountain and I just kept thinking "how in the heck am I going to get off of this thing at the end." I was also thinking about the one piece of advice that I had and that was to keep your ski tips up. Well as we kept going up and up and up and up, I started wondering if we were in the right place for us. We happened to be at Snowbird and we were heading for Upper Big Emma. Yup. Not a place for people who have never put on a pair of skis before - LOL. With that being said I kept my ski tips up and and at least cleared the unloading area before crashing. Okay so those who are familiar with ski resorts might now think: "they'll just take the outer easy way down." Yup, that would have been a great idea, IF we had actually had that knowledge in our pocket. So looking down this very intimidating mountain we went for it. This "going for it" was not at all glamorous. Pretty much every minute or so one of us was crashing. And yes, it was so bad that at one point a child, probably no older than 8, came to give us a hand. He taught us about putting your skis in a V shape. Yes, yes, if you didn't know this will help you go slower so that you have more control. Up until this point we would just go and crash, go and crash, and yeah you get the point. When I say go, it wasn't very far because we were kind of just heading down the mountain. It was not a pretty sight. Needless to say we did get down, BUT it took us about 3 hours. Not even kidding!! For those who don't know that is WAY beyond slow. Well the rest of the day we did a few more runs, working on keeping our ski's in a V shape, AND we managed to get ourselves on the run that was way more appropriate for us. Needless to say we were a bit battered up after this day on the slopes. My hands were sooo sore from gripping my poles. And yes, for those who know, most times when you are recreational skiing you don't even really use your poles. Needless to say my parents got myself, and my sister, ski lessons. With the guidance of someone who knew what they were doing, within a lesson, I really ended up enjoying skiing. I was able to go with friends to many of the resorts in Northern Utah, over the course of the next 6 years. But NOTHING can compare to my first every ski trip. Now to the aha moment from this - oh and how do you choose just one: 1. First and foremost - if you are following someone, even if it's someone you trust and like, make sure that they know WHERE they are leading you. If we had gone on an easy green trail, I think we would have figured out some things, but on the trail we ended up on, we were just basically in somewhat of a survival mode. 2. The knowledge is out there take advantage of it - in hindsight we should have asked our guy friends. I should have asked my dad for a few tips before we left. But nooo, we just went with our pride and although we did come out on the other end, it wasn't without A LOT of bumps and bruises. (Read scriptures, listen to the prophets and other leaders and teachers, watch conference, and ask your parents, it will save some you from some bumps and bruises.) 3. With that being said - we MADE it. It was super hard, and quite frankly a bit scary, but we did it. AND after that we sought out the knowledge that we needed to make the next trip easier. This certainly didn't mean I never crashed, but it never took 3 hours to get down a mountain on a ski trip again. (Now there's the time a friend broke her ankle at the top of Mt. Timpanogas and it took 3 hours to get down. AND there is the first go a water skiing, but those are stories for another time.) I kind of relate this AHA lesson to enduring to the end. I don't like the image of enduring to the end meaning it only gets harder and we get way more tired and weary where we lose our faith and joy. I like the quote from Sister Marjorie Pay Hinckley "Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a well preserved body, but rather a skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, Wow what a ride!"
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