How To Overcome Challenges

I’d call myself a pretty good skier, although one particular afternoon on the slopes I faced a challenge beyond my ability, or so I thought.

Skiing with my family, we took a chairlift higher up the mountain where only single and double black diamond runs—for experts only—could be accessed.

Usually, we skied an easy groomed run to the right of the lift, but on this occasion my husband suggested we turn to the left and explore one of the many ungroomed runs on that side. Although a little reluctant, I agreed to the adventure.

Having left the crowds behind and with our teens shooting off ahead, we set off down a gentle run. However, in the distance I noticed it disappeared from view. Soon, we were standing on a cliff edge staring down a precipitous slope scattered with fir trees and inundated with moguls—huge bumps. In my mind, this was no single black diamond.

My legs turned to Jello and sweat began to trickle down my back.

My husband, leading the way, skied off through a narrow icy gully between two trees, calling for me to follow him onto a wider, but equally steep, part of the slope.

How To Overcome Your Challenges

“I can’t do this,” I shouted after him. I stood for a long time trying to pluck up courage to move.

Eventually, I decided to unclip my skis and, stepping gingerly, I moved across to the trees. For one second, I had the wild but dangerous idea of letting my skis slide down the slope, following them on my backside.

I looked around, desperately hoping a ski patrol, in their bright red jackets emblazoned with white crosses, would come by pulling a yellow stretcher and give me a ride down the mountain. But, I was alone.

I clung to the swaying treetop poking through the snow. “I’m stuck,” I yelled. “I can’t do this,” I howled again. By now my husband was further down the mountain.

I struggled to clip on my skis as they slipped on the steep slope. My shaking legs didn’t help.

I wanted to give up.

Looking ahead in the new year, we may face a challenge that we know about, or don’t yet know about, that look like a “black diamond” ski run. It can look impossible to overcome or get through. We worry that it will be too much for us to handle. There are steps to help us.

I could have stayed clinging to the tree at 12,000 feet while the sun dipped in the sky, even though that really wasn’t an option. I imagined nightfall alone on the isolated mountaintop. Or I could tell myself I could do it.

At last, levelheadedness kicked in. “Nobody can get you down this run, Rachel,” I said out loud. Speaking to oneself may be the first sign of madness, but it made sense to me. “It’s all up to you, Rachel. You can do this,” I continued with my pep talk. “You can do this.”

With skis back on my feet, I began to slide slowly across the slope.

How can you be determined to master your challenges instead of letting your challenges master you?

Unlike my experience, we do not have to face life’s challenges alone.

GOD AS OUR GUIDE

If my husband and I had a mountain guide that day to show us the best way down, the run would still have been hard work, but we would have known a better route. Following the guide’s ski tracks would have given me confidence.

In life, we do have a guide. God promises to lead us. We just need to ask him and follow the tracks he sets out for us.

OTHERS TO ENCOURAGE US

My boys shouted encouragement as I made my way down the slope: “Mom, you can do this. Go to the left. Turn there, that’s a good route down.”

Surround yourself with people who will spur you on and who have experience or have “been there.”

SMALL STEPS

It overwhelmed me to look from the top to the bottom of the run. However, when I looked only a little way ahead of me, the steepness seemed more manageable. I focused on choosing where to make one turn at a time. What I found daunting then seemed possible and soon I was at the end.

Pick one or two steps to help you move forward in what seems an impossible situation. When you have been successful with these, then you will feel like you can do more.

PRAY

Lord God, thank you for promising to walk before me and with me through the challenges I face in the coming year. I ask you to clearly guide me. To help me take one step at a time so I am not overwhelmed. To provide me with friends and family who can support and encourage me. My hope is in you. Amen.