Anybody that knows me well enough understands that skiing is one of my passions in life. It isn’t just because I am an adrenaline junkie (which I am) but more because it is the only sport that gives me the ability to push myself beyond my comfort zone and whether I succeed or bite it hard, I grow exponentially as a person.
Snow sports is a unique sport that you have to embrace failing as a necessary part of getting better. If you are afraid of failure, then you will never do anything to push yourself and will never learn what you need to learn to get better. It is something so pure and so simple but something any snowboarder or skier will tell you you must learn how to be okay with. This dynamic is very personal to me because I hear in my office every day a generation of children who are so scared of failing that they will avoid doing anything that might give them a chance of failure.
I don’t know about you, but in the world that I live in it is impossible to grow as a human being and get ahead in life if you avoid doing anything that might give you a chance at failure. This is why skiing plays such an important role in my life and why I tend to gravitate to people who understand what this sport can do for the soul. Its not by chance that I started out the blog for this week’s podcast with these points because I think we have a serious problem in America that unless addressed, will be a problem that prevents this country from being what it should. If we truly want to Make America Great Again, we have to address the huge problem of people being petrified of failure.
Not only that, but we have a huge problem with people being pulled apart and polarized in every facet of life. We are so divided as a country that I think it is more difficult to find any area of life right now that brings people together. That is where snow sports again is the model to the rest of the country. Just go to any local ski & snowboard slope and you will see parents and children happily shredding together. Even teenagers and their parents…shocking I know! You will see groups of kids pumping each other up, encouraging each other, pushing each other, and being outside with each other. Not only that, a group of teenagers shredding on the mountain after school & on the weekend is too busy to get themselves into trouble with drugs & other stupid things.
That is why we have brought in this weeks special guests Kevin Sayler & Teddy Goggin who are putting on The Silverthorne April First Friday Rail Jam presented by Arapahoe Basin. These are two guys who completely understand the role that skiing and snowboarding can play in a persons life and decided to bring together the community of Silverthorne, Colorado to celebrate the hard work of the snow sports community. Join us as we talk about how snow sports can be a valuable tool that teaches confidence, helps overcome adversity, brings parents and children together, and creates a community that brings people together instead of pulling them apart. If that wasn’t amazing enough, it also gets people outside exercising and interacting with nature which research has shown time and time again is the easiest things people can do to overcome depression and anxiety.
All the necessary ingredients to make a country great again. Funny how the secret to bringing the country back together was found by a bunch of skiers and snowboarders in Colorado…who would have though it?
As always I am joined by the Armchair QB himself Bill Reed to help keep me in-check and firmly in The Gray. Gray Matters Radio with Michael DeVine is a proud member of The Reporters Network family of podcasts. Listen to new episodes of Gray Matters Radio With Michael DeVine every Monday.
