Life Lessons from the Sports We Enjoy

The sports we are passionate about can also teach us valuable life lessons for overcoming challenges with a positive attitude. For example, I am an avid downhill skier. Believe it or not, I look forward to winter and the powdery snow that comes with it, because I can’t wait to hit the slopes.

That may seem strange, given the fact that I have cerebral palsy and an awkward walking stance. But it is true; I look forward to downhill skiing; because I love it; and because it has taught me so much, about overcoming life’s challenges.

One of the lessons I have learned from downhill skiing is that anything is possible with the proper equipment and support. When I downhill ski, I use what are called outriggers in the place of ski poles. Outriggers are crutches with half skis on the bottom. They allow me to use my arms to turn and keep my balance as I traverse down the hill.
An attachment at the front of my skies compensates for my lack of leg strength by preventing the skis from coming apart as I travel down hill.

Other skiers have nearly skied into me, marveling at how different I look from the average skier. But the point of skiing is to get from the top of the hill to the bottom in one piece and thankfully, I am able to do that. Anything is possible with the proper equipment and support.

Another important life lesson that skiing has taught me is that no matter how big the obstacle is, we can make it if we take one step at a time. For example many beginning skiers come to the top of a hill, look at how steep it is and become fearful before they even start. They take off from the top of the hill, thinking that they have to take on the whole mountain and in the process psych themselves out. The reality is that no matter how steep a hill is you only need to ski ten feet at a time. You simply aim for a spot ten feet in front of you, turn and then continue this process until you reach the bottom of the hill. The challenge, no matter how big it is, is confined to increments of ten feet at a time.

Life is handled in the same way. We live within the space of sixty second minutes, sixty minute hours and twenty four hour days. These time confines are God’s way of helping us do life a little bit at a time. Trying to live beyond these boundaries causes needless anxiety and worry.

If the challenges you face today seem insurmountable, take the opportunity to reflect on some life lessons from your favorite activities and sports. The insights you receive may surprise and encourage you.

- Terry Harris

Diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy when he was two years old, Terry Harris in the opinion of many experts within the medical and education professions, would never walk, talk, read, write or go to a regular school. It was recommended to his parents that he beplaced in an institution. In 1995 Terry graduated from Brock University with a B.A. in English Literature and obtained a degree in marriage and family therapy in 1999 from Tyndale Seminary.