Sunday, January 25, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
WHY WE DIG SPORTS
When you have a secret, can you keep it from even those closest to you?
"Yep, like the best poker player."
When you're angry or upset about something, can you hide it from other people?
"Sure, I just smile and keep quiet."
When you're skiing the moguls, can you fake being better than you really are?
Errr, no.
How about rock climbing, if you say you climb 5.12 but it's simply not true, when it comes time will you rise to it?
Not a hairy fingernails chance. Same with baseball, football, golf, cycling, race car driving, all of them.
That's the thing about sports, you can't fake anything. You can't hide from the truth in sports like you can the rest of life. You can't pretend to be stronger, faster, more intelligent, more charming, more sexy than you really are. And so sports, my friends, are the ultimate mirror. A mirror solidly held and no matter how much you try to squirm away, you cannot avoid the reflection.
That's why I choose Sports as Spiritual Practice, as my church. No bullshit. Just living.
They bring us to our knees and little else does...
When you have a secret, can you keep it from even those closest to you?
"Yep, like the best poker player."
When you're angry or upset about something, can you hide it from other people?
"Sure, I just smile and keep quiet."
When you're skiing the moguls, can you fake being better than you really are?
Errr, no.
How about rock climbing, if you say you climb 5.12 but it's simply not true, when it comes time will you rise to it?
Not a hairy fingernails chance. Same with baseball, football, golf, cycling, race car driving, all of them.
That's the thing about sports, you can't fake anything. You can't hide from the truth in sports like you can the rest of life. You can't pretend to be stronger, faster, more intelligent, more charming, more sexy than you really are. And so sports, my friends, are the ultimate mirror. A mirror solidly held and no matter how much you try to squirm away, you cannot avoid the reflection.
That's why I choose Sports as Spiritual Practice, as my church. No bullshit. Just living.
They bring us to our knees and little else does...
Monday, January 12, 2009
The Ultimate Path of the Athlete
Sports are the ultimate test. They offer a great mirror. We can fake other aspects of our lives- like we're actors in a movie- but we can't do any such thing in sports. It’s just not possible to pretend to be better than you are while hanging it out on a 5.12 rock climb or in golf tournament. Sports break us down into little pieces, show us clearly our strengths, our weaknesses. They offer us lessons, an opportunity to wake up to what it means to be a human being. But alas, most of us miss these lessons...
The greatest lessons of our lives.
Will you take advantage of these lessons? To become more conscious makes you a better human being, and to be a better human being makes you a better athlete- in whatever way that matters to you. That's good incentive.
In the words of Paul Valery: "The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up.”
The greatest lessons of our lives.
Will you take advantage of these lessons? To become more conscious makes you a better human being, and to be a better human being makes you a better athlete- in whatever way that matters to you. That's good incentive.
In the words of Paul Valery: "The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up.”
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Skiing Without Fear
This is a blog for www.kristenulmer.com and the Ski to Live clinics.
People ask me all the time, "How did you do it? How did you ski without fear all those years as a pro?"
They want to get rid of their own fear, so they can ski better, of course.
I always answer: "You're asking the wrong question."
The question should be: "How do you embrace fear?"
Much like a whining child, the harder we ignore fear the louder it whines. It simply will not stop yowling until we listen to it. If we listen, instead of being our enemy, it becomes our friend- our warning bell. The one who has our back.
Take it a step further now, and embrace fear not like a friend, but like a lover, and you'll see that it is fear, actually, which creates our passionate for this sport. Without fear there is no challenge, no adrenaline. Without fear, skiing would have little appeal, no fire.
I love fear like I want to love Brad Pitt.
Now THAT makes for good skiing...
This is a blog for www.kristenulmer.com and the Ski to Live clinics.
People ask me all the time, "How did you do it? How did you ski without fear all those years as a pro?"
They want to get rid of their own fear, so they can ski better, of course.
I always answer: "You're asking the wrong question."
The question should be: "How do you embrace fear?"
Much like a whining child, the harder we ignore fear the louder it whines. It simply will not stop yowling until we listen to it. If we listen, instead of being our enemy, it becomes our friend- our warning bell. The one who has our back.
Take it a step further now, and embrace fear not like a friend, but like a lover, and you'll see that it is fear, actually, which creates our passionate for this sport. Without fear there is no challenge, no adrenaline. Without fear, skiing would have little appeal, no fire.
I love fear like I want to love Brad Pitt.
Now THAT makes for good skiing...
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