This is the only way down.🎿

Last week we travelled to warm and sunny and warm Greece. This week I offer you the fresh air from the mountains. Probably because winter has been so disappointing as no one could really enjoy it due to Covid-19.

How familiar are you with winter sports? I was very lucky that my parents brought me to the mountains with them when I was young and gave me a taste of it. I am more a sea person, but the mountains hold something magical too. In winter, it’s snow, ski, slopes and loads of cheese. Apparently, cheese keeps you warm! As we are in the middle of Spring, I know it’s technically not the right season to talk about it but I love a good raclette or cheese fondue ! By the way, I have the most amazing homemade recipe for a cheese fondue! If you want it, just let me know!

Anyhoo back to our mountains....

The thing with the mountains is that when you go up, well, you need to go down. I recall a few instances when I followed my dad with all the enthusiasm of a child who wants to show his father that he can do it too. It seemed like a great idea at first but when faced with the challenge became rather scary.

Ski slopes are marked by difficulty. Green runs are the easiest, then blue, red and finally black (at least in Europe).

Green runs are therefore the easiest slopes, the one that will get you to the base of the hill with the least amount of risk or drama and, possibly, the fastest.

Black runs are the steepest and unfriendliest parts of the mountain.

So why would anyone choose to ski down the black runs instead of a green one?

Now as a keen skier, I wouldn’t ask myself that. If you are skier/snowboarder would you?

My question instead is “Why wouldn’t I?”…swiftly followed by a “Hell yeah”.

The point of skiing isn’t to get to the bottom. Well in a way it is the point at least get there in one piece and by yourself not via a helicopter. The point is really about how it feels on the way down: the thrill, the challenge, the speed, you and the mountain becoming one.

You don’t choose the black for the sake of it. Everyone wants a challenge, based on their level, a red could do, or even a blue if you’re just starting.

So why is this insight so hard for us to embrace elsewhere in our life? Why is it so hard to apply it when it comes to learning or personal engagement or art or the work we do each day?

There are speed bumps along the way, few opportunities unevenly distributed, and unforeseen problems. But none of them get better when we decide to constantly seek the easy way out to the end.

I remember a particularly difficult run when I was 11. I still see it. It was hell. But I did it and close to 30 years later I still remember it. I don’t recall many green runs...

QUESTION…

What is your personal black run? How will you feel at the bottom of your own Black Run?