Courage, compassion, companions.

"Mom, you can do it. I will wait for you. I just know you can make it." My mind traveled back. My first trip on the ski lift. Scared. Uncertain. Unsure of it's ability to climb up this huge mountain. I felt my breath escape without warning. Beauty surrounded us. The depth and height of each mountain was difficult to take in. I have ridden the lift many times since that occasion. I don't feel the fear. I don't wonder of the certainty. I know. I have done it. This morning I am being challenged beyond my courage and confidence. The slope is steep. I don't know what lies ahead. As my young daughter is standing there smiling and coaxing, I feel her strenght. I see her belief. Fear weakens my spirit. Letting go isn't easy. As I turn to my son, sitting on his snowboard, he smiles, "mom you have already been down the hardest slope on this mountain. You can make it." I swallow my faint of heart. I take a deeper breath. I recite their words over in my head and tuck down the slope. As I focused with all my might and strenght, I look down the hill below, there waits my two children, smiling, cheering me on. At some point they have buzzed past my slower descent without my knowledge. They are free. I am not. As I draw closer to them, they tell me to stop and rest. "How you doing? How are your legs? You are really doing great, mom." I appreciate their support. I appreciate their concern. I appreciate their patience. Most of all I admire their fearlessness. Their freedom. Their trust. Their compassion for one with much less courage. At the end of the run, they wait for me. The next lift is much faster, much higher. "Ready,mom?" I'll get ready. I take a break on the lift. The thing that once caused me fear, gives me relief.