I have this relationship with my mom, where it seems that she really know's me better than I do myself. And this frustrates me to no end. Our dynamic consists of her telling me I should do or not do something, or gives me advice, or something of that sort, and I will disagree with her and usually do the complete opposite of what she says (my inner teenager at it's finest). And then in the end it turns out she was right, and I should have listened to her in the first place. And this always pisses me off to no end. Because she is right and I am not when it comes to my life. However, I think I am coming to realize that even though I don't like listening to her, I really should. Because though I don't want to admit it, she actually has some good ideas. And they might even make my life better, or inspire me to do something. Like for example, how she got me to know Mark Mcmorris.
Since I live in a lovely northern state where for half of the year it is either freezing cold, snowing, or both, I have to have some kind of winter sport to do. Otherwise I would be bored as hell from November to late March/ early April. I have been skiing all my life, and I love it. Blissful weekends up north in a lodge, full of skiing all day, and relaxing in the evening in front of a warm fireplace with hot chocolate and a good book. Some of my best memories are from weekends like that. And I have also recently just gotten into snowmobiling, something that is very fun, however I do not own a sled so I can't do that too often. I just have to rely on friends who have some that I can go with. Which sucks because then I am once again sitting at home doing nothing really. But between those two things, my winters are not entirely boring, and I can involve myself in at least one of them to pass the time.
But no, this new thing I have decided to take on what I feel will be a challenge, yet pretty awesome at the same time. Snowboarding! Skiing has always been my thing; my sister and my dad both ski, and it's something I have grown up with, never really considering trying what the other half of the people on the mountain are doing. But let me tell you what my inspiration was that suddenly made me want to really try this.
As we all know, the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics just ended, and as a person who watches them all the time, this year was very motivating for me. I watched the figure skating, and all the skiing, like I always do, admiring these incredible athletes who work day and night for the thing they love. It has always fascinated me. However, I have to say I have never really paid much attention to the snowboarders. Sure I knew who Shaun White was. But besides him, I really didn't know all too much about the events, or the people, or what they did at the Olympics.
Then one night at dinner, I was talking to my mom about skiing, and she said, "Oh that reminds me, you should watch all the snowboard cuties who competed in the Slope Style event the other night." Me, not really knowing or caring too much at that time, agreed but really had no intention to do so. I mean, cmon Mom, do you know me at all? I'm a skier! But later when we were watching TV, and there was really nothing good on, she suggested we watch it. So I agreed, not really knowing the reaction that would follow.
As we watched them compete, I was really struck at what an amazing sport this was. They would launch into the air and do incredible twists and turns, and land them all. I was amazed, to say the least. Not to mention, that there seems to be a gene that latches onto snowboarders and makes them stereotypically cute. Like not just one or two, it seems to be a common theme throughout these athletes. And as I watched Canadian Mark Mcmorris win the bronze, I was suddenly struck with the strong motivation to do this as well. I wanted to be like Mark Mcmorris. Which yes, is ridiculous considering he has been training for years and knows what he's doing and I have never done this before and I do not know what I'm doing whatsoever, but I have the inspiration and I think that is enough to at least give it my best shot. And it will give me something to do instead of staring out my window waiting for summer.
So really, I guess I have my mom to thank for this. Had she not recommended that I watch this, I probably never would have. She really seems to know me better than I know myself. And maybe I should start listening to her more often... Actually now that I think about it, I probably won't.
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