which way is up?

Today I skied on my own, again.  This is day 5 in my little experiment of being by myself on the mountains skiing.  What was different about today was that I had the clouds for company.  They were up close and personal. As you can see in the picture, there wasn’t a lot to see other than their white/grey fuzziness and to feel the cool damp air on the skin.

At times I wasn’t too sure what was up and which way was down. I sensed my way down slopes I had skied before, relying on my muscle memory, trusting my unconscious that we know how to ski and can make it down any slope, shushing the inner voice when it started to tell me we didn’t know what we were doing and that we were going to ski off the path and down a precipice! This nearly become a reality when I was tentatively making my way along a blue piste.  The mountain was to my left and the drop to my right.  On mountains routes are marked by 2 metre coloured poles on either side of the piste.  Today I could only see one pole.  I made the mistake of thinking I was close to the mountain side when in fact I was heading for the edge and about to fall, but I didn’t.  My unconscious knew what to do and corrected my direction.

I started to realise that I could do this, that my conscious self should take a back seat and trust the unconscious self.  The unconscious self who has stored up all the information on how to ski, who remembers the runs I have done in the past and who knows me better than I know me.

So what’s this got to do with facilitation and training?  A challenge provokes parts within us.  These parts can be conditioned and show themselves as a fear or limiting belief.  I was being challenged by the pesky clouds and at the same time reflecting on why I still haven’t run open facilitation workshops for my peers and colleagues but I have run them for private clients and businesses.

Well when you are alone for long periods of time you think about all manner of things.  My inner voice, the critic was telling me no one will come to one of my workshops and I don’t really know what I am doing (yes go figure, apparently its called The Imposter Syndrome. Click here to read more)

So my learning from today’s little adventure as I made my way along the blue piste post missed fall was that I do know what I am doing.  Just like my skiing I have been practising my craft for 10 years, I have been coached by people I respect, each year I ‘polish my saw’ by continuing my learning about facilitation and training.  I even have the certificates to prove it!

The only ‘thing’ holding me back was a little fear which said ‘no one will come’.  And this I learnt is untrue.  On the slopes I was on my own the majority of the time and then I came across other skiers and boarders.  I would start to follow some people until I realised their path was not working for me. I remembered I could choose my own path that it was often easier and simpler.
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Yes it felt reassuring to see other people on the mountain however I now know I make good decisions and to trust myself, even when I don’t know which way is up.