Day 11--Do what makes you feel electric

Today's task: Persuade me

This Christmas, I stayed in a condo that overlooked Colorado's Copper Mountain ski resort. From our window, we could see Rosie's Run, a black run that my brother-in-law Ross describes as epic. As someone who has never donned a pair of skis and who only has one sad snowboarding story to tell, it was both beautiful and intimidating to see skiers and snowboarders glide down this run at speeds my body will never see outside of a car. For his final run Wes was going to tackle Rosie's Run, and he called those of us at the condo to let us know he and Ross would be among the skilled skiers right outside our window. I witnessed Wes's descent. He was schussing effortlessly down the mountain with athletic confidence, and he came down with such speed that those of us watching were only mostly sure we'd spotted him. It wasn't long until he was walking through the door, with a Rocky-Mountain-High look upon his face--mussed hair, windswept rosy cheeks, and the sated smile of someone who was content. It's remarkably similar to the look he wears in the summer after he's been mountain biking. Mountains embolden Wes, and he radiates something contagious after he's been skiing, snowboarding, or mountain biking. Whatever it is, it's electric.

Though I find his excitement contagious, I am not inspired to personally strap on the skis and go flying down the mountain. Lord knows this body of mine was not built for speed, and my sad snowboarding story is mostly about how going fast scared me to death so I threw myself down face first to slow down. What I've decided is that I need to do more of the things that make me feel electric, and I need to own that my electric looks much different from extreme mountain sports, and that is OK!

On this same Christmas break, I finished reading A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman. It was a story of brilliant characters, and of love, and of finding yourself even as a crotchety old man. Finishing that story made me feel electric. It was hopeful, and it made me believe that people are mostly good, and it made me ache for more experiences with the characters. I cried as it ended, and then I shut the book and cried some more. I texted my sister-in-law who had given me the book for Christmas last year because I longed to connect with someone about the book. Backman revealed so much truth about life through the characters in that book that I actually felt more alive after reading it. It doesn't look much like Wes's schussing, but it's electric!

Wes's electric and my electric look much different, but they are both feeding the same need within us. Through these activities, we plug in, dig in, open up, fill up, and are able to give more energy to those around us because of it. What makes you feel electric? Are you doing it? I've found that when I'm struggling, I avoid electric activities, and I think I do that because I'd rather spend time doing things that allow me to disconnect from my brain. I bury my head in my cell phone and spend a ridiculous amount of time on Facebook reading suggested posts about 90's celebrities and toddler discipline tips. When I choose to turn my brain off or even to turn it down, I often notice an effect opposite of electric; I feel boring and isolated.

Whatever you have going on today, I encourage you to let your mind travel to things that make you feel electric, and I encourage you to embrace whatever that may look like for you. If you are the skier schussing, own it. You look awesome. Get out there and schuss. If it's reading books, that floats your boat, go read and see how the world can open up through amazing stories. If baking is your jam, preheat that oven and bring some sweetness to this world. If it's simply drinking a cup of coffee and watching the birds on your windowsill, brew it up and enjoy. And here's the thing, if we all commit to doing the things that make us feel electric, we're going to get a few dollops of invigoration. And if I feel invigorated, chances are I'm going to be more likely to reach out to the people who cross my path. And if we are reaching out, maybe we'll forget about some of these walls that go up to separate us.

Full disclosure, I had to ask my sister-in-law Rhonda about some of the skiing terms in today's entry, particularly the word schussing. I asked her if Wes's skiing style was called schussing and she said maybe but, "Whatever the mountain gives him, he takes without hesitation." I loved that. That's where plugging into your electric activity can lead. I don't mean that it will make you invincible, and I don't mean that bad things are going to stop coming your way because you started your electric activity of singing in the shower. I do mean that when you start doing activities that make you feel alive, you will be more likely to handle the inevitable blows from life with more acceptance. There's no time like the present, identify a few things that make you feel electric and speed toward them with the determination and grace of the skiers on Rosie's run; see where it takes you and go forth without hesitation!