Do you remember those commercials long ago that showcased Suzy Chapstick? She was a champion skier shown swishing down the slopes - sporting Chapstick, of course. (Google her. You'll see. She was great!) She looked so good to young me! I wanted to be her. I wanted to ski fabulously. I wanted to swoosh on the slopes. I wanted to look good as I effortlessly glided down the black diamond runs.
That's young me right there. As you can tell by the snow on my jeans, I wasn't Suzy-caliber yet. Maybe I was fueled by teenage enthusiasm, but I didn't give up on the idea that I could really ski. Even as I fell and tumbled down Medicine Bow's bunny slope, I thought to myself, "I'm Suzy Chapstick!" So I kept at it.
With every passing ski trip, I learned a few things.
* Always wear snow pants to hide your numerous wipe outs.
* Never admit you are still on the bunny hill.
* Add your own sound effects when you've made a great swoosh to build morale.
* Repeat the mantra, "I'm Suzy Chapstick!" over and over as you snowplow down.
That mantra of mine was backed by a super-charged image in my head of how I felt certain I looked as I skied. I thought I looked exactly like Suzy. I really did. Think that, I mean.
It's more than evident now that I didn't really look like Suzy Chapstick. (I'm pretty sure she never sent her skis down without her when she tried the blue square slope and panicked - thinking she'd never make it home alive if she didn't just walk on down the hill.) But the thing is - I thought I did.
If I had known then that I looked a little un-Suzy out there, I'd have thought twice about that fifteenth run down the bunny hill. I'd have stayed in the lodge and never felt the exhilarating thrill of making it off the ski lift without falling. In short - I would have given up my Suzy-ness for what I thought others saw in me.
I for one refuse to let how I think others might see me keep me on the sidelines.
"I'm Suzy Chapstick!"after all.
I still think I ski well. I do. I mean - I think I do. When I hit that bunny slope this year - I'm going to be saying that mantra over and over again as I start my slow run down the hill. Wait - do they even call my swoopy-many-times-back-and-forth-across-the-hill-so-I-get-to-swish-my-skis-as-I-turn-and-make-sound-effects-of-said-swishes runs? Or is it more like a sashay on skis?
Whatever it is, I own it.
I don't care what I really look like. I know what I feel like I look like. And it's Suzy Chapstick.
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