Finding the Edge

My question, is it easier for one to be content with things as they are? Of course. (In most cases for the reason that the majority of human society won’t try to make things better, if it works the way it is.) I myself not till a while ago, was only a good skier afraid to better myself at skiing. As a skier I was like this, because in my mind I was afraid to get hurt. A very good friend, my cousin Dana King, pushed me to do more than ever before.

                  Now my cousin did this by having me just follow him on all types of trails. He did this by telling me just to follow his path he makes in the snow as he went down the mountain. He also taught me how to fall when going off the big jumps, if it looks like it’s going to be messy. Then he picked a trail and told me to lead. At first I wasn’t very good at it, but then, after a while, I was making near perfect turns with speed. Then the lessons were at an end, and we signed up for an amateur big air contest at Gunstock, but I chickened out.

                  So months went by and I slowly got better. Then last year at Gunstock I signed up again. A bit before the contest while practicing, I tried a back flip. I didn’t check conditions beforehand and paid with some bruised bones, so I took my name off the list again. Now I have changed comps and am practicing for a skier-cross comp. Skier-cross or skier-X as it’s known in the X-games, is a race like moto-cross on skis. Basically it’s racing down the hill with eight other skiers, through hair pin turns, bumps, jumps and obstacles. I am an amateur at this, but I think over time I could become a pro.

                  It was much easier not to try and never push myself than to get hurt. So I learned the hard way what I’m most comfortable with, and now I’m pursuing it. Now that I think about it, since I learned from this experience I still wouldn’t change a thing about it. So now I know you learn best from your mistakes.

                  I learned so much from it, and now almost two years later I can pull that back flip off with enough speed and good conditions. I never stopped trying, so now in life I’m the same way. Now when I think I’m ready to sign up for the next contest after a bit of practice and checking the conditions I will. I guess what I’m really trying to say is that you should never stop trying ’til the very end of it all.