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The accident that almost killed me. (Is FEAR holding you back?)

The Accident to Almost Killed Me
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The Accident to Almost Killed Me

Hey Friends, today I’ve got a story for you!  It’s not new and some of you who’ve been with me the longest might already know it, but if you need some encouragement to grab 2018 and make it the best year ever, then this is the blog you’ve been waiting for!

I’ve been sitting here all week and as much as January is supposed to be a time of rest, reflection, recharging and restarting, I kinda feel like I’m already behind! I’ve set all these goals and all I can see are the bumps in the road, and the difficulties I’m about to face. And maybe you are too, so I wanted to tell you a little story today to help encourage you to face your fears, chase your dreams, and don’t give up when the going gets tough.

Flash back to 2009:  I was a senior in high school and a ski racer. I loved it. I loved my team, I loved the sport, I loved the snow and the adrenaline rush you got before entering the start gate.

However, that year I had an accident that threatened to change everything! We were up in Stratton, Vermont, for pre-season training and practicing GS turns when someone cut into our course from another trail. He was about 3 times my weight and happened to cut right in from a side trail. I didn’t have any time to react before we collided at a combined nearly 60mph. A 60 mph collision!! On skis.

It happened in the blink of an eye. One second I was flying down the hill at approximately 35 mph, the next…

I was lying on my side, mangled, broken, confused.

My body was contorted in ways I didn’t know were possible. I laid there in the snow in complete shock looking down at my leg. I didn’t cry. I didn’t scream. In fact, I couldn’t feel anything at all.

The mountain ski patrol was called and I laid there motionless. They called my parents who were in Florida and told them there had been an accident. I heard cries and shrieks from the phone. My parents were informed that I possibly broke my femur and would soon be taken off the mountain in a helicopter.

“Hi Mom. Hi Dad. Yeah I’m okay I think. I mean my leg is backwards… They think I broke my femur but I don’t feel any pain. I’m taking a sled down. Mr. Rea will keep you posted.”

My leg was backwards.  We’re talking 180 degrees the other way.

My injury list was long. I had a posterior dislocation of my hip, which is what caused my leg to be backwards. I tore all the muscles in my quad. I partially tore the ligaments in my right knee, I tore my left hip labrum and my left joint capsule, and I had serious nerve damage. On top of that, I had splintering fractures on both femur heads. Of everything on the list, the nerve damage was the scariest. My leg had been out of it’s socket for nearly 8 hours before they could get it relocated and this caused major nerve damage in my leg. I was in a wheelchair, and then on crutches with doctors telling me:

“It might be 2 years until you walk again.”

The accident that almost killed me. (Is FEAR holding you back?)

Fast forward a few weeks into recovery when my dad came inside from shoveling snow. He touched my foot and I yelped from the temperature of his cold hands. I could feel it. For the first time in weeks, I felt sensation in my leg and my foot! I proved the doctors and everyone else wrong. My nerves grew back quickly after that and I only had a few more weeks on crutches.


For a few years, I don’t know that I skied at all — until studying abroad in Europe.  A group of friends and I made a spring break trip to Switzerland. The terrain was wide open and it was like riding a bike, I didn’t skip a beat.

Since that trip in 2012, Scott and I have gone on a ski trip every year. Most of the time, Scott and all our other friends complain about having to wait for me on trails with difficult terrain.

I couldn’t keep up because of FEAR.   ←-

THAT, Friends, is the key reason I’m writing to you today!

Last year, however, I gave myself a bit of a pep talk when I found myself at the top of a mogul run. I HATE MOGULS. But I had to get down somehow… I told myself it was all in my head, that I could do it and less than a minute later I was at the bottom of the trail by Scott.

“WHO EVEN ARE YOU?” He screamed! He was used to waiting for me for 30+ minutes on mogul runs. Not that time.

And after that run, it was like everything fell into place.

So why am I telling you all this? Because, Friend…


Fear.

The accident that almost killed me. (Is FEAR holding you back?)

It’s all in your head.  As Will Smith said in the movie, After Earth, “Danger is very real.  Fear is a choice.”

In life and in business, there are going to be a million times you get knocked down, but it’s your power to get back up that’s going to make or break you. There are so many fears in this entrepreneurial journey that creep up.

I’m not good enough.

I’m not smart enough.

I’m not her.

I’m not a leader.

I won’t make enough money.

I’m not ready.

I’m not interesting enough.”

Those comparisons and insecurities are not dangers, they’re simply ideas stuck in your head and holding you back.  Make the choice to step right on them as you go over and above and take the chance, make the good decision, and move forward!  Most of these things are just lies we tell ourselves because of fear. And what is fear anyway? You can’t see it. It’s just air. It’s like the wind. And the only way you’re ever going to soar is by facing those fears and getting outside your comfort zone.


If you let fear win, you’ll risk never knowing the incredible things you can accomplish.

When I was standing at the top of the trail in Jackson Hole (the hardest mountain the US) I knew I had 3, maybe 4 options.

The first was to take my skis off and hike BACK up the trail and find another one to go down. (Business translation: Don’t look back — you’re not going that way!)

The second was to take my skis off and hike down a seriously steep trail with moguls up to my waist.  (Life Translation: Sometimes the path in front of us is not as easy as we planned.  There are going to bumps. Lots of them. But even if it’s harder than anticipated, there is always a way to accomplish what you set out to do.)

The third was to cry, and stay stuck there for the rest of the day or until ski patrol came and got me.  (Business and Life Translation:  You are the only one responsible for getting unstuck.  Push through the fear–no matter how hard it gets, no matter what bumps interrupt your path, always focus on the end goal!)

And the last one, the one I dreaded most, was to ski down the hill in front of me!!  And that’s the one I chose! And when I got down? I WAS ELATED. I was so freakin’ proud to have got down the mountain! What if I had given up skiing altogether and never gotten back up? I’d miss the moments of joy and elation and pride and confidence that conquering that damn mountain brought me.

The accident that almost killed me. (Is FEAR holding you back?)

Business and Life Translation: Get back up every time you get knocked down. Because you can do this! You can do whatever it is you set your mind to and I believe in you. The world needs you and your beautiful, amazing gifts.  The world needs you to not be fearless, but able to look fear in the face and say “You’re wrong. You are so so wrong. I AM good enough and I can do this.” Face the path in front of you, bumps and all, and focus on the end goal.



Happy Friday, Friends, and CHEERS to the best year so far!

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