Skiing | Teen Ink

Skiing

October 31, 2013
By jsmart2323 BRONZE, Clarkston, Michigan
jsmart2323 BRONZE, Clarkston, Michigan
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

I arrived early on a Saturday morning to meet up with some of my friends to do some filming that morning, success and accomplishment was on my mind. I looked at my skis, covered in stickers of my favorite brands, scratches and dents all over from hitting rails and falling. As I sat at top of the hill with my friends, with music blaring through my headphones trying to get in my zone, camera on and ready to go, I looked down at the hill we all call “timbo” with all of my friends, and I think to myself, what do I want to accomplish today? Any new tricks or just working on tricks I already know how to do. I look up to many professional skiers. Last year I got the chance to see and meet a professional skier by the name of Henrik Harlaut. He recently had won an X-Games gold medal for Big Air. I talked to him and one thing he said that I will never forget is “Practice all the tricks and don't be afraid! Don't stop learning new tricks or perfecting tricks you know until you are up competing with me.” That quote will forever be in my mind because whenever I think I gave it my all I can always think there is a little more and that extra little bit is what it takes to improve. Last season I “broke out of my shell” in a sense that I was skiing with all of my good friends who were better than me and I learned a lot. They helped me a lot by motivating me to try and do more tricks that I wouldn’t try if I was by myself. I like skiing with better people because it always pushes me to do bigger and better things on my skis, but I know its just me trying not to be the worst in the group. My dad has been a very influential person in my life because he has overcome many challenges and completely turned his life around from not looking so good to great. Every time I second guess myself I feel like it pushes me to do better because I always think of when I golf with my dad and he tells me “Before you do something I want you to think of all the things you wish to accomplish and say to yourself “I can do it.” I always think about that while I'm skiing and then I say “You know what, I’m never going to know if I can do it or not if I don't at least give it a try.” Every time I don't try what I don't try what I want to, for some reason I just can’t get myself to try it I always get the thoughts of failure and regret. I never feel satisfied knowing that I did not even try it. Success is a big thing in my life because it had been instilled in my life growing up through things my parents, grandparents and my uncle have said to me. My uncle is a very athletic guy and sometimes he will take me somewhere to go skiing with me and my brothers and he would always tell me about how I have improved. It makes me feel good when people say that to me because I know I have been successful and improved. Whenever I’m trying to do new stuff or focus in on tricks I already know, I always plug in my headphones and just turn them up so I can focus and get in my zone. Music has always helped me focus on just one thing and shut everything else out.



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