| Article 5 |
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FEAR AND MOTIVATION
(My intention is to develop this section for those who would like to have some scholarly information. With web access one can easily research on their own the incredibly huge body of information that would be encompassed in this heading. At the moment, what I have here is very simple and very limited. More than likely the next time I will be available to devote any energy to this subject will be summer of 2008. My apologies in that there is so much information here, I have not had the time to absorb, collate and synopsize all that is available. Feel free to email me with specific questions or comments.)
Suffice it to say at this time, our specie is hardwired to anxiety. The more we focus and tighten up, the worse our perception becomes. Reality be damned – those nice quilted bumps for an intermediate skier become ice covered Volkswagen Beetles. That gently rolling golf fairway of hard pack powder for a beginner becomes an alley of 350 or maybe 900 of solid blue ice. The 2’ cornice for an expert wannabe becomes a 50’ cliff surrounded by rock ledges. Needless to say, anxiety begets anxiety. Fear has no value.
There are some great techniques for you to regain comfort. Oxygen is good. BREATHE! Look away and breathe. Get a sense of perspective. See the distance instead of the close (alleged) problem. GO! Standing and focusing is your enemy. Enjoy the excitement that is generated in motion.
Do not buy into your friends advice that “you can do it”. Wait till you are comfortable to join him/her and then ski rings around them because you prudently started comfortably and then prudently expanded your comfort zone, so that it becomes second nature, so that you can look around and see the entire beautiful environment, so that … blah, blah, blah! It’s all good, my friends.
BTW - confidence begets confidence. Joy begets joy. But one must overcome the anxiety first.
BTW (2) - I submit to you that all humans carry some degree of anxiety. Regardless of their level of athleticism and their interminable ego, there is always some level of fear. Perhaps that person has the tools to keep their fear under control. … AND therein lies the key. The above scenarios describe people whose fear has become their controlling demon.
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