Stepping into the new year by stepping outside our comfort zone

On January 1, 2023 I tried snowboarding for the first time.

It was fun - and challenging. Much more of a struggle than I expected!

I’ve never been super skilled at winter sports, but I love the idea of them. (Kind of like Olaf from Frozen loving the idea of summer!) So going into this experience, I didn’t have high expectations.

Especially because it was so much less about skill and so much more about challenging myself to do something outside of my comfort zone. And that I certainly accomplished!

Despite not being able to stand up on my own while strapped onto the board, spending most of the day sitting in the snow on my butt, and having 10 year old boys try to give me tips, I showed up for this new experience, and in the process showed up for myself.

Now I’ve got this clear memory of being courageous enough to do something that required me to tolerate being ‘imperfect’ and to get ‘messy’ and to be open to going into the experience not knowing what the outcome would be. Which are valuable skills that we all likely encourage and support our clients in developing all the time.

And these skills also contribute to our own self-care. Sure, the snowboarding experience was a nice way to get exercise and spend time in the outdoors with friends and family. But even more importantly it was an opportunity to be playful and not take myself too seriously - which ultimately actually allows us to take better care of ourselves. (And no, that is not me in the photo above, I was on the bunny hill! But perhaps with a little more practice and ongoing courage, that will be me one day. :)

Along with nurturing a sense of curiosity, we hope that each of you can also shift into this new year with an openness to not knowing, getting messy, and being imperfect!