The Ski Race of Disappointment
05/25/2020
The Ski Race of Disappointment
Why you shouldn’t always get mad at yourself
Sometimes we create our own heartbreak through expectation - Amber
The wind slaps me across the face as I shoot through the starting line like a bullet. The ice on the course is as slippery as a bar of soap, and I fly down the course like an eagle that has spotted its prey. A striking blue sky and a blazing sun shine on the soft snow as I patiently wait for my turn to soar across the finish line. My first run was complete, and I had got almost the worst time. Given that this was my first race ever, and I was competing against college students who had been racing for over ten years, I was proud of my first run. Since about five kids had fallen on the course and not crossed the finish line, I was not the last to run the course unlike my last run. I had been waiting for about an hour to start my second run, and I was ready. One of my coaches helped me scrape the heavy snow off my boot, and I popped my skis on. I slid into the starting line as my heart rate slowly raised. Right before the timer reached 1, my coach told me something I remembered for the whole run. “All you need to do is finish, don’t worry about your time, just finish the course and be happy with yourself.” And with that note in my head, I shot across the starting line.
The course was extremely icy in the beginning, but I pushed through the gates as fast as I could, and before I knew it I made to the middle of the course, which is the most flat part. There was a weird uphill lump in the course, and when I went through it, I completely missed a gate. I didn’t realize this though, because I thought it was just a delay (a part of the course where you go around two gates the same way). I was a bit skeptical that I had done something wrong, but I carried on through the course. As I neared the end of the course, I tucked as fast as I could. I flew like a race car through the finish, and I knew I had gotten a better time than my last race. My mom congratulated me as we headed over to the scoreboard to see what my time was. I was shocked what the announcer said. “Bib 111 (me) has been disqualified from the race, because he missed a gate halfway through the course.” I was super disappointed of myself, because I knew I easily could have made the gate. As we were driving back to my house, I realized something. This was my first ever giant slalom race, and I shouldn’t be sad that this happened. After all, I was the youngest, most inexperienced, and the worst skier out of the 100 other people in the race. I figured that even though I was disqualified, I tried my hardest and I did the best I could, and there was always next year to do better.
When you’re not satisfied with your outcome, don’t be mad unless you didn’t try.
Comments