Lets Go Shoot The Hill....

They say a good character builder is to do at least one thing a day that scares you. What is that thing for you? If someone gave you the chance to do it, right now…would you? Would it help if someone encouraged you?

Last night Vil picked me up from work and we drove home on very snowy roads. It had been snowing nearly all day and we had accumulated over a foot of snow at the house. It’s beginning to look like a true mountain pass up in our neighborhood with snow banks pushed up against the sides of the roads from the plows. Funny how just a few hundred feet can make a big difference to what our North Bend “valley” neighbors see.

We came around the corner, past the small creek bridge and started up “the big hill”. That hill is the reason I look forward to spring- it can be a snowy mess, scary going down and sometimes slick coming up. “Hey”, says Vil “This snow looks pretty deep up here”… “let’s shoot the hill tonight”. I felt my knees quiver and gave a small sigh. Whenever it snows, we try to get out the cross country skis and head out for a little exercise around the neighborhood. Every time we’ve gone, we’ve stopped just short of the snowy big hill and turned back. Tonight… Vil decided we should “shoot the hill”.

At 7:30pm we headed out into the darkness. The snow was coming down nicely, giving us a nice fresh coat on the roads. We set out kicking and gliding as usual, past the mailboxes, past the other houses, past the new construction and on to the small bridge before the hill. “This snow seems pretty fast tonight, would you agree?” I mumbled under the sounds of the clank of poles hitting the road. Vil couldn’t hear me- between noise of the skis and poles and the fact that he was already quite far in front of me, it was pointless.

We got to the top of the hill and stopped. “Ready?”, Vil said casually, as if we were getting ready to jump in the car or head to a checkout line. “I just need a minute”, I said trying to be as brave as possible. Next thing I know, he’s going- full speed ahead… snow flying as he went.. a seemingly uneventful voyage to the bottom of the hill. When he finally slowed down he yelled up “It’s not too bad”. The “too” in that sentence was the word I disliked. “I’ll be here all night if I don’t go” I thought to myself. So… in a flash.. off I went… whistling completely out of control until I managed to find my long-lost snowplow and slow myself to a manageable pace.

At the bridge at the bottom, I felt really happy. I’d done it.. heck.. WE’D done it! We became the first people in the neighborhood to “Shoot the Hill”. I decided it was my gold star for the day. My “character builder” of overcoming fear. Sometimes, when we are scared.. we just need that little push to get to the place of joy.

What do you fear? The gold star awaits you, and the character is on the other side. Slow down, take a deep break and do it. Or… have someone encourage you to “shoot the hill”.