Blazing an angel’s trail….
Yesterday I went to a women´s introductory mountain-biking lesson where we learnt everything from how to get off your bike properly – who would have thought that was a thing, never mind the first thing to learn – to stopping next to forest trees rather than in them, and riding through sand and over roots.
But beyond the physical confidence that mastery gave me, I learnt two things about life. One is the importance of acquiring the right skills before you begin something new. The second is that the way you look at things changes your trajectory.
I have always been nervous riding off-road because my balance isn´t great and I usually end up in a ditch. But by simply learning how to shift my weight, how not to grip the handlebars as if my life depended on it and how to ride over manageable obstacles instead of swerving to avoid them and crashing into something else instead, I feel like a bit of a winner, actually. So I decided to strike while the iron is hot – another life lesson, now that I think of it – and join the beginners´ Trail Angels group next week. Small successes beget slightly bigger goals.
The second thing I learnt is that by looking slightly ahead of your front wheel, you can anticipate what lies up ahead and respond to it in time, utilising the amazing bike-bossing skills you have learnt. Which is how you don´t end up in ditches. Voila!
As I drove home, I realised that it had been a real analogy for managing life. Acquire the skills you lack to effectively manage yourself within your context, be it communication skills, emotional regulation, executive functioning, the art of listening, etc. And then adjust your way of looking at things to suit the situation. In other words, be able to shift perspective to cope with whatever situation you are in. This builds resilience. Overcoming obstacles leads to greater confidence in overcoming others.
But in order to achieve any of this, you have to be 100% present in the moment. And that is exactly why people do adventure sports. Because you are never more alive than when you are fully immersed in what you are doing, mind, body and soul, all working together in harmony.
This is what is meant by being mindful. Imagine bringing your full attention to whatever you are doing, having prepared yourself adequately for doing it, with the right mindset in place. It´s gotta be a winner.