I'm an "Epic" Editor

I didn't ride my bike from the east coast to the west coast... but my friend Jed did! I also didn't write a book detailing all of the adventures, challenges, and people along the way... but my friend Jed did!

What I DID was make his manuscript bleed (upon his request, of course) with my red pen and helped edit his book, Epic Ain't Easy.

I considered using this project as a New Thing, but it wouldn't have quite hit the mark on my objectives. The idea behind my New Things is that they push my limits and make me uncomfortable. Even though I've never helped edit a book manuscript before, it didn't qualify as an official New Thing for 2010 and I'll tell you why.

Helping Jed edit his book was one of the most interesting projects I've ever done and I was excited to be involved. I had read samples of Jed's work before and loved his poignant and humorous writing style. When I heard he was writing a book on his cross-country cycling adventure, I told him I wanted in.

I received the manuscript via email one weekend in mid-November. Jed sent it to me and four others, calling us the Epic Edit Team. In the email he introduced us to each other with brief bios and laid out the project. I enjoyed the bio he wrote for me:

Shanna- Currently resides in Kansas City and has been recruited because her husband mentioned she likes my writing style. Further investigations revealed she is also in possession of wicked skills, quick brains and an ability to provide criticism with the midwestern charm that removes the sting. Shanna is also smokin' hot but as is usually the case she's already got a dance partner.

I thought his description of me was hilarious. I don't know about the "smokin' hot" part, but if someone wants to say that about me, I won't stop them. And it won't bother me to post it on my own blog either. ;)

The manuscript was attached in the email and I couldn't wait to get started.

That first night I read nearly the whole 162 page document on my laptop. I drank a glass of wine. I was in my element and the book was fantastic, as I knew it would be. My plan was to read the book through once and then take to a printed version to make my edits and comments.

So that's what I did and I did it with fervor. Once I received the printed manuscript from Jed in the mail a few days later, I took my red pen and dove in. (Not that it wasn't a fabulously well written story already, by the way. It was. I provided editorial comments, suggestions on where to provide a little more description, etc.).

My goal was to be able to provide my edits to him by the end of November, so I took it with me on the long drive home for Thanksgiving. I was prepared with a book light since it would be dark much of the travel time, but the stupid thing didn't even work. Luckily my husband had his hunting gear packed in the car and had a headlamp I could borrow. I actually edited a good portion of the manuscript wearing his camoflauge headlamp. Really. Picture me in the passenger seat of a car with a camo headlamp, manuscript and red pen. That's how it went down. My daughter was incredibly freaked out by the light attached to my head, but she fell asleep soon enough. I mailed Jed the manuscript with my edits in late November.

In February, Jed sent it back to me with a signed copy of the published book. I was elated to see the final product and where my edits and suggestions were used. I was also thrilled that I was able to help a friend out on a project that meant so much to him. 

The book is called Epic Ain't Easy and it is indeed epic.

In 2006 Jed Dunham, upset with ambivalence and unaccountability in America, quit his job and put all he had on a bicycle. He wanted to see if his country was capable of meeting the challenges of the future horizon and he decided to ride across the continent to find out. He had no training, few maps, little knowledge of bicycling and no support vehicle. He left Mont Vernon, New Hampshire and aimed for the Pacific Ocean. He thought it would be fun. It wasn't. But what he learned completely restored his faith in America.

The book editing project reaffirmed how much I love writing. Around the same time that Jed's book arrived in the mail, my uncle gave me a book by Marcus Buckingham called Find Your Strongest Life. One of my biggest take-aways from Strongest Life was to learn to recognize activities that make you feel strong and figure out ways to spend more of your time doing those things.

Working with Jed on his book was a strong activity for me, which is why it doesn't qualify as a New Thing. I absolutely loved the project. It reawakened my love for writing and inspired me to find the time to do it more. His story motivated me, too. He's a guy that had a dream to bicycle across the country to find out what people are made of. Including himself. He didn't let the naysayers get him down or allow him to stop believing in himself. He used their snarky comments as fuel to push through the toughest parts of his journey.

Thank you, Jed, for allowing me to be a part of your adventure. You know where to find me when you get to Volume 2.

I'm a Runner!

I'm a runner! Okay, maybe I'm currently more of a jog/walk/jogger, but according to Runner's World Special Beginner's Guide that I received as a free gift for subscribing to the magazine, "It doesn't matter how fast you go. If you consider yourself a runner, you're a runner." I'm a runner!

For New Thing #6, I will be running in a race at the end of May. You read that right. Me. Running a race.

(You may be wondering what happened to New Thing #5 that's to take place in April. It's in the works. Don't worry).

In a previous posting, I told you about Carolyn Mitchell, the 74 year old marathon runner. Just to refresh your memory, she's completed 97 marathons in 50 states and on all 7 continents and she didn't start running until she was in her 50s. I find this incredible and it made me want to start running. I was further inspired by Billie Jean King and the other amazing women that shared their stories at that luncheon and it motivated me to push my athletic potential. I might have been blinded by the aura of that moment of inspiration or someone could have laced the iced tea I was drinking. Either way, I'm going for it.

I've never really done much running before. I've actually been guilty of making fun of runners and declaring that I only run when my life is in danger. I can be a little cheeky.

In preparation for becoming a runner I did a few things:

• Downloaded a PDF called Couch to 5k in 8 Weeks.
• Bought a new workout outfit.
• Subscribed to Runner's World and ordered the free corresponding Beginner's Guide and Runner's Log.

With those things under my belt, I was on my way.

Last Friday I began my running journey with a triumphant 2 mile jog/walk/jog on the bike path near my house. It took me a ghastly 31 minutes. Yesterday and today's times were just as ghastly, but at least I was out there doing it. I don't expect myself to be a fabulous runner straight out of the gate so I'm not terribly upset about these numbers. I'll get better and I have some time to train.

New Thing #6 will commence on Memorial Day with a 2 mile run to benefit an organization that one of my friends is associated with- the Amy Thompson Run. Proceeds benefit the Brain Injury Association of Kansas and Greater Kansas City (http://www.biaks.org/). They provide critical funding for prevention programming as well as information and direct support for individuals and their loved ones who face the ongoing trauma of brain injury. Since its inception the run has raised more than 1.5 million to help all people with brain injury. For those of you interested in the race, there's also an 8k course and a Kiddie Dash.

My goal for the race is threefold-

• To finish without embarassing myself too greatly.
• To run the whole way with no walking.
• Use this as a starting point to run in longer races in the future.

I know my little 2 mile race isn't impressive to most people, but I have to start somewhere. Wish me luck!

New Thing #4- March 2010- Ditch the Fear

This isn’t exactly what I had in mind for my New Things project. But, this is something new for me, nonetheless and it definitely has me out of my comfort zone.

For some reason, I’ve also always operated in “worst case scenario mode.” While this can be a strength in the ambition department, it can also make me focus far too much on the negative possibilities of life. I usually end up robbing myself of the present by constantly setting myself up to avert future problems or disappointment.

For instance...

As a child, I would look for my birthday or Christmas gifts early so as to prepare myself just in case I didn’t like them. That way, if the gift was something I didn’t really want, I wouldn’t be disappointed in the moment of hype and excitement. I knew what was coming and I was prepared for it.

Worst case scenario: being disappointed that I didn't get the perfect gift.
Accomplished: cheating myself out of the surprises.

My senior year of high school, I was so afraid that I would never actually get to college (let alone graduate) that I thought if I didn't go immediately, I would never go. So, I moved to Manhattan, Kansas by myself two days after high school graduation to start summer session at Kansas State University.

Worst case scenario: potentially never leaving the small town I grew up in and dying poor and unhappy. (I may be a little dramatic).
Accomplished: cheating myself out of one last summer with all my friends and allegedly breaking my mom's heart to bits.

In college, I was so afraid that I wouldn't graduate that I went through it with tunnel vision (all except that first semester where I went a little crazy). I went to school, worked nearly full time and in hindsight realize I was FAR too serious about things. I finished in 3.5 years at 21 having logged very few hours in Aggieville. For those of you not familiar with K-State, Aggieville is an awesome business district (mainly bars) and probably one of the reasons why Manhattan is known as Manhappiness. Yes, I got my bachelor's degree but did I have any fun? A little... but, not nearly enough.

Worst case scenario: failing in school and having nothing to show for it except student loans I wouldn't be able to pay back because I'd not be qualified to work anywhere but McDonald's.
Accomplished: cheating myself out of a time in my life that only comes around once.

These stories could go on and on.

Here's where New Thing #4 comes in....

A couple of months after I started dating my husband, one of his friends died. A year later, another one of his friends died. Not long after that, one of my childhood friends was killed in a car accident. Between us, we had 6 friends die in the span of 8 years. There's just something about being young and realizing you're not invincible that alters your outlook.

Every time a friend would die, I would try to put myself in the position of the closest people they left behind, particularly the significant other/ spouse, so that I would be prepared if I ever had to deal with it. I would be prepared if it happened to me. (I wasn't afraid of death. I was afraid of being the one left behind).

Because this happened so early on in our relationship, it shaped how I viewed Aaron, who was my boyfriend at the time, and is now my husband. All these years without really realizing it, I've been preparing for him being gone and how I would take care of myself. I've not ever really let myself need him.

The problem with operating in this fashion is that you tend to push away the person that you love the most. When our daughter, Ella, was born, these feelings intensified. I knew I could always take care of myself, but taking care of someone else too was a different story. The intensity of my “preparing for the worst” heightened, as did my lack in ability of enjoying the present moment. I was getting through it instead of enjoying it.


Worst case scenario: my husband dies and I'm left to fend for myself and my daughter.
Accomplished: pushing away the person I love the most so that I don't "need" him.

Doesn't make much sense, does it?

On Sunday, March 21 2010 my worst fear very nearly came true. My husband and his friend were traveling to do a construction job on a highway in eastern Missouri. The roads were slushy with the 7 inches of wet snow that had come down the day before. As they were rounding a curve, Ben was telling Aaron about a girl that had just been killed in that exact location due to someone crossing the line in a head-on collision. Just then, a pickup truck sped around the curve, hydroplaned and was coming toward Aaron and Ben, head-on. Just in time, Ben was able to swerve and the other truck sideswiped the side of the truck and trailer they were pulling, narrowly averting an almost certain fatal head-on collision. There was damage to the trucks and trailer, but everyone was okay.

What’s strange is that I sensed something imminent all weekend. Have you ever had the experience that you note the date because you know something forever life-altering is about to happen? I didn't know about the accident until Aaron called me hours later.

I had taken our daughter to my hometown to attend a weekend wedding. Aaron would have come along, but I wanted to leave on Friday morning and he had to work all day. In my ever-present spirit of “I can do it on my own,” I packed us up and left. It wasn’t until I was on the road that I realized I hadn’t done the 12+ hour roundtrip by myself with our daughter before. Well, I thought to myself, now’s a good time to do it so I can be self sufficient. I can do it all on my own.

The drive was torture between the lost pacifiers, snacks that were demanded, sippy cups that were thrown and there was even motion sickness thrown in the mix. The short story is that it was a difficult drive. Could it have been easier if I’d just waited for Aaron to go with me? Yes. Would I have had more fun over the weekend with Aaron to hang out with? Yes. I deprived myself of the things I actually wanted or needed, just so I could operate as I always have with “I can do it myself.”

Worst case scenario: leave later in the day when Aaron's off work and miss the Friday evening festivities.
Accomplished: managing a terrible drive with an already sick and exhausted toddler.

I'll be forever grateful that Ben was paying attention and swerved when he did. Though I’ve spent the last 9 years preparing for not having Aaron anymore, I am incredibly glad that didn’t happen. I’m taking this as my cue to stop preparing for the worst, because it honestly hasn’t gotten me anywhere except cheating me out of the joys in life.

Before typing this, I'd never really put together why I always instantly go for the worst case scenario. I always assumed it was just the Type A personality, determination, or a million other positive things, because we tend to see only the best in ourselves, right? It was none of those things. It's just plain fear that I've been operating under. As a child, it was fear of disappointment. As an adult, it's fear of defeat and losing the people I love the most.

I'm coming to terms with the fact that there’s always a possibility to be disappointed or to have unexpected life events come at me, there's no way I can ever be prepared for it all, and I'll make myself and everyone around me crazy if I try.

I'm ditching the fear and my worst case scenario attitude. Look out, world.

Billie Jean King and Carolyn Mitchell Are Making Me Do It

I'm not what you would describe as athletic. If you've seen me try to do anything that remotely requires balance, coordination, or any type of physical skills this goes without saying. See my blog entry titled New Thing #1- Downhill Skiing if you doubt this.

I do try to keep in shape and enjoy a good workout. Sometimes I try harder than other times, but I do really believe that exercise helps you think better, feel better and make better choices. If you don't believe me, read Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School by John Medina and SPARK: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain by Dr. John Ratey. I don't have to be good at team sports to have fitness as a part of my life. Which is a great disclaimer now because this will spare me the rolling of eyes and comments from my brother, "Shanna's athletic this month.. Riiiiight."

I was further inspired by an event I attended last week- the WIN for KC annual luncheon. WIN stands for Women's Intersport Network. Billie Jean King was the guest of honor and there were a number of other accomplished women that were also recognized.

You probably know who Billie Jean King is. I have to admit that I wasn't aware of all that she had accomplished until my husband's best friend, Matt Bell, educated me a few years ago by saying, "She's the reason you and all women are able to have the careers you do."

The WIN for KC program described Ms. King's accomplishments.

Bille Jean King has long been a champion for social change and equality. King created new inroads for women in sports and beyond during her legendary career, and she continues to make her mark today. Among her many accomplishements:

• Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, by President Obama on August 12, 2009, in ceremonies at the White House.
• Won 39 Grand Slam singles, doubles and mixed double tennis titles, including a record 20 titles at Wimbledon.
• Empowered women and educated men when she defeated Bobby Riggs in one of the greatest moments in sports history- the Battle of the Sexes in 1973. This match is remembered for its effect on society and its contribution to the women's movement.
• Honored on August 28, 2006 when the National Tennis Center, home of the U.S. Open, was renamed the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in honor of King's contributions to tennis, sports and society both on and off the court.
• Founded the Women's Sports Foundation and co-founded World Team Tennis in 1974.

Ms. King was incredibly humble and inspiring in her presentation. She described how she's always just done  what needed to be done, regardless of the pressure placed on her at the time. I think that's a good lesson to learn- stay true to yourself and stand up for what you believe in and who knows what can happen. You just might change the world.

Another woman honored at the luncheon that changed my world was Carolyn Mitchell. She's a local 73 year old woman who has 5 grandchildren and works full-time for the Environmental Protection Agency. Oh yeah, and she's a marathon runner. She has completed 97 full marathons on her goal to 100. She's already accomplished some of her goals (as if the 97 isn't enough?!) by competing in marathons in all 50 states and one on each of the 7 continents. As if all of that wasn't impressive enough, Carolyn didn't start running until she was 50.

Carolyn's words of wisdom: "Don't be afraid to go for it. It's never too late to start, and you'd be amazed at what you can do."

Billie Jean King and Carolyn Mitchell have given me an idea. I'm no rockstar athlete, but let's see what I can do. New Thing #4 may just involve something of this nature.... Stay tuned to find out.

New Thing #3- February 2010- Eating Kind

I went 11 days without eating anything that formerly breathed. I also extremely limited my eggs and dairy intake, as well as scaled back on soda and processed foods. I'm not going to say that I'm going vegetarian or vegan for New Thing #3 because Lord knows my mom would stage an intervention. (Hi, Mom! You're probably my only reader, so don't get mad)!

What I AM doing is experimenting with "eating kind" as Alicia Silverstone calls it. She was on an episode of Oprah recently along with some other folks talking about healthy eating and encouraging people to take the time and spend a little more money at the grocery store on good healthy food rather than pay later with your health. 

First off, Alicia looked amazing. That made me want to do whatever she was doing. And second, I do what Oprah tells me to. Thus, New Thing #3 is me "eating kind" or as close to it as I can.

In Alicia's book, which I immediately purchased, Alicia describes what led her to writing a book on a plant based diet:

This is about being really, really good to yourself. The Kind Diet will give you tons of energy, mental clarity, gorgeous skin, and a zest for life you won't want to miss. Plus, it's powerful; doctors like Dean Ornish and John MacDougal have discovered that plant-based diets have the power to reverse heart disease, diabetes, even cancer. The kindness extends to the earth itself; because it requires less fuel, water and other precious resources, a plant-based diet is much lighter on the planet.

The gist of the diet is not to eat meat, dairy, eggs (any animal products), refined sugar or processed foods.

I don't know how far I'll take "eating kind." My goal was a full 7 days of eating as kind as I could and I made it. Immediately after the 7 day mark, to the hour,  I had about a 24 hour slip up over the weekend at my brother's house. No meat was involved but I did go wild on some processed foods. A Pepsi and some Doritos were involved. I was like a girl at Mardi Gras on her 21st birthday, visiting the Girls Gone Wild trailer. 

I quickly rebound and finished 11 days with no meat, limited dairy and no eggs. This may be a new lifestyle for me, but I may also incorporate some things back in limited amounts. I feel enlightened after having this experience and do actually feel better. I feel less weighed down after meals and my skin had been breaking out because of stress and now it's cleared up substantially. I've also lost a few pounds. My husband and daughter are also on board! We'll see what happens, but for now we're calling this a succesful completion of New Thing #3!

Spaghetti squash with marinara, lima beans and asparagus. It even works toddler-style!

New Thing #2- January 2010- Communicating Competently

I've never gotten super excited about public speaking. I'm okay at it and I put myself out there from time to time because I like the idea of being a good public speaker, but don't always feel like I can deliver the way that I want to. I am a perfectionist and I want to be good at everything. Which isn't always the case, needless to say.

I joined a Toastmasters group called Professionally Speaking in September and had an aggressive 12 week plan to complete my 10 speeches. I thought if I just jumped in, it would scare me straight and I'd be cured at the end of it. My 12 week plan turned in to more of a 20 week plan because things just got busy at work and at home,  next Christmas came along and I was out of town. Then I got cold feet for a couple of weeks because my last two projects focused on objectives I was avoiding- vocal variety and body language. In the last week of January I finally completed my Competent Communicator manual. New Thing #2.

I enjoyed writing my speeches, especially if I felt like I was educating my audience in some way. I had a couple of topics that were my stand-by things I was passionate about- I shared money saving strategies, couponing techniques and goal setting.

Throughout the course of my public speaking journey, I've learned that you can't fake passion or your amount of knowledge on a subject. What I ran into was that I was so excited about the topics that I would get nervous about how to compress the information in a concise way that could be understood clearly.

I was super ambitious and committed the first 8 speeches. I would outline my topic, put my notes in an outline on notecards, rehearse for hours, and usually practice in front of my Toastmasters mentor several days before my scheduled speech. I recieved really positive feedback throughout the experiences and was hoping that at the completion of my Competent Communicator manual I would be a rockstar. I was already envisioning the proud feeling of accomplishment when I finished my final speech.

That's not exactly how it went.

I think I believed that if I pushed myself to do 10 speeches in only a few months, I would be someone else at the end of it. I realize now that I had envisioned myself as a confident, eloquent motivational speaker at the completion of my Competent Communucator manual. I remember even scoffing at the title of the manual when I first got it. "Competent Communicator? That's like striving to be Fairly Adequate! If I'm going to put time and energy into this, I'm want to be awesome at the end of it!"

Awesome was what I was expecting with my final speech. Awesome I was not.

I guess I must have set myself up a little. Body language and movement during a speech is one of my biggest challenges and I put that speech off until the end. I didn't rehearse like I should have or even as much as I did for previous speeches. I was hoping to counter the "analysis paralysis" by not overthinking it or over rehearsing it and instead ended up feeling ill prepared.

I let myself think that since I'd done pretty well giving other speeches throughout the course of my time with Toastmasters that I could wing it to some extent on the 10th one. In all honesty, I was just plain avoiding it.

I also set myself up in the expectation department. I should have known that 10 speeches under my belt wouldn't magically undo all of my habits around public speaking. I am a true perfectionist. I remember how it felt after skiing in December- I thought that was as far out of my comfort zone that I could get and that every month it would get easier to put myself out there and do new things. I know now that's not the case. Every new thing I do will be pushing me and making me uncomfortable, or it should, for it to be meaningful.

This is why some people never exit their comfort zone. It's hard. In essence I'm risking my dignity and putting myself out there to potentially fall on my face, both literally and figuratively. That's the thing about setting goals and stepping out of your comfort zone- it may not feel good at the time. It may not feel good after the fact, like in this circumstance. But, I did what I set out to do. That's something. I realized too, that in this process of new experiences, I'm not only learning new skills I'm also learning a few things about myself. Sorry to go all "I'm trying to find myself" here, but this was definitely a good learning experience that will help me grow as a person.

Just the other night I read this in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey and thought it was appropriate:

Through our human endowments of self-awareness and conscience, we become conscious of areas of weakness, areas for improvement, areas of talent that could be developed, areas that need to be changed or eliminated from our lives. Then, as we recognize and use our imagination and independent will to act on that awareness- making promises, setting goals, and being true to them- we build the strength of character, the being, that makes possible every other positive thing in our lives. 

It is here that we find two ways to put ourselves in control of our lives immediately. We can make a promise- and keep it. Or we can set a goal- and work to achieve it. As we make and keep commitments, even small commitments, we begin to establish an inner integrity that gives us the awareness of self-control and the courage and strength to accept more of the responsibility for our own lives. My making and keeping promises to ourselves and others, little by little,our honor becomes greater than our moods.

Even though I didn't magically turn into Zig Ziglar at the completion of my 10 projects, I'm proud of myself for trying and am now starting my advanced Toastmasters manual. I have to believe that the more I work on this, the more comfortable I will get. And I'm not stopping until I'm awesome.

New Thing #1- December 2009- Attempted Downhill Skiing

In true overachiever fashion, I began my New Year's Resolution of 12 New Things in 2010 in December of 2009.

If you know me, you're probably aware that I've always felt the most comfortable with my feet firmly on the ground. This preference, coupled with my fear of heights, made skiing something I was always to terrified to even fathom trying. It had never even crossed my mind to attempt, but when visiting family in Northern Michigan, my in-laws were taking my nephews to the nearby slopes. I thought to myself, "if small children can do this,  then I can too." I wasn't about to be trumped by a 5 year old.

The destination was Nub's Nob in Harbor Springs, Michigan and my goal was to make it down the bunny slope without breaking my legs or tearing up a kneecap.

Being a sensible gal, I signed up for a group lesson to learn the ropes. Looking back, the whole thing was a little like an out-of-body experience. I checked my dignity at the boot rental counter and hobbled to the great unknown.

My instructor was an older gentleman and a 20+ year veteran of ski instruction. I was thanking my lucky stars that my instructor wasn't of the young, hipster crowd. At least with a fatherly figure I could bear the embarrassment of my lack of skills without wanting to pop someone in the nose.

The next 90 minutes were some of the most humiliating of my life. I hobbled past skiing and snowboarding toddlers. Their self confidence made me want to vomit.

I was with a group- a pretty young woman who looked like she was here with friends or a boyfriend and she was the only one who didn't know how to ski, a woman and her boyfriend/ husband who patiently took the lesson with her, and three children. I immediately scoped out the least skilled and stood near them so as to not stand out.

We learned how to snap our boots into our skis and then how to snap them out. We learned to make our way up the tiniest side of a hill in a horizontal fashion so as to not slide backwards. One by one we went uphill, then back downhill. It was no more than 10 feet of a slight incline, but it could have been the Rockies in my eyes. I fell at least twice within the first half hour. I learned how to get up without dislocating a hip. That, in itself, was an accomplishment.

When it came time to brave the lift, the instructor singled me out and called me from the back of the group to ride with him. I wanted to think it was because of my stunning good looks, but on the way up he informed me that he'd chosen me because I seemed to be the most likely to hurt myself and I was without a partner. Thanks for the overwhelming vote of confidence, guy.

No amount of preparation readied me for the dismount of the lift. Kersplat. The instructor had to yell for the operator to stop the lift while I navigated my rear from around my legs. I didn't even have time to be mortified. I was focused on surviving and not getting my head taken off.

We'd made it to the top of the bunny slope and I was terrified. It was a long way down and I'd already learned in my class that falling didn't necessarily mean you stopped. I was an experienced faller at that point and at the bottom of the hill was a large, sturdy building. Somewhere between the top of the bunny slope and that building, I was going to have to learn how to stop.

And I did. Without even falling. Even more surprising was the 90 seconds in there when I wasn't in absolute misery. In those brief seconds, I thought skiing could potentially be enjoyable.

Upon making it safely down to level ground and finishing my lesson, I immediately called it a day. I turned in my rented skis with a sigh of relief and a sense of renewal- retrieving my dignity in the process. I could go back to the world that hadn't seen me at my most uncoordinated and thought maybe, just maybe, I'll brave the slopes again someday.

It is safe to say that I was waaaay out of my comfort zone on this one. But, I made it through uninjured and my self confidence gradually resurfaced.  New Thing Number 1 accomplished. Numbers 2-10.... bring it on!