It's storytime! If you've been following me for any time at all, you know I'm a passionate skier. It's a big part of my life. So this story is all about how this one chairlift ride started an avalanche, pun intended, of change in my life and why you are enough.

To set the stage, it was one of those moments where the universe just kind of lined everything up to give me exactly what I needed at that moment. And if you aren't on board with the Woo, let me just tell you, that your greater power, whatever you choose to call it, is lining everything up for you all the time. Things are happening for a reason. It's not just a coincidence that you happen to be with that person on that day at that time. The person I was riding with was someone that I just had recently met. She wasn't in my life for very long, we kind of connected for a little while. I truly believe that the whole reason that she was in my life was for this one conversation.

Know That You Are Good Enough

How a Chairlift Ride Changed My Life

During the chairlift ride up the mountain, we were chatting about life and family and you know, just kind of talking as we do. I don't really remember how this started, but I can tell you exactly where I was suspended in the air when it happened. She turned and said to me, “Do you ever just ski for fun?”

I wasn’t sure what to respond. “All the time.”

And she continued, “No. Like, do you ever just ski simply for the pleasure of skiing? Feeling the ski slide on the snow, the wind through your hair, and all that?”

And I had to pause about it for a second.

And I thought I don't know that I ever have. 

How do you stop thinking you're not good enough?

Now if you don't know my background, I grew up ski racing. I did it for 10 years. Then I went directly into teaching skiing. During that time for the last 30-plus years, I've always had someone telling me how I could be better and coaching me about where my flaws were. Don’t misunderstand - I don't regret any of that. That's what makes you good, right? 

But I never realized that I never just skied to ski. I was always trying to improve something.

And you're probably thinking, well, that's good. You should always be trying to improve. 

Yes, to a certain extent. But that too can get overdone. 

Sometimes you just have to do it for the hell of it. I had never done that. 

As we continued to talk, I shared that I had some pretty intense expectations put upon me. I have one of the pre-conditioned loops in my head that tells me I always have to be number one (that’s a whole lot of baggage we won’t unpack here today!)  We talked about coaches and parents and bosses. 

At one point, she turned to me and she said, “Heather, you are enough.”

I still get emotional about it. 

It felt like I was hit with a ton of bricks and like a weight was lifted off me all at once. It was the craziest thing. It made me cry, which is not my thing. I don't cry in front of people, just my husband. 

I don't think I've ever been told that. 

I certainly haven't told myself that.

I certainly have never believed that about myself. 

Because in my eyes, I wasn't. There was always a way to be better, ski faster, get better grades, and so on.

So when she said that to me. . . whoa.

How do you believe you are enough?

After we got off the chairlift, I'm still processing this. I'm thinking, “Okay, yeah, I am enough. I ski very well. Good enough, if you would say.”  And I chose right at that moment, to take my next few runs 

just for fun

just for me

and it was liberating!

It was amazing to just do it for fun. I'm sure the average recreational skier has a lot more fun because they didn’t take skiing so seriously, trying to be precise and do everything right. 

So it was a crazy event. It was a crazy day. In the end, it really kind of threw me into this emotional thing. That was only one of many events that happened in a really short period of time ultimately leading to the beginning my own journey of feeling happy.

I started learning to allow myself time to enjoy life. I found a way to feel healthy, strong, lean, competent, and accomplish all the things I see in my head. 

No longer did I have to be the best in order to be happy. 

I no longer had to win in order to be happy. 

I didn’t have to be the best mom in the world in order to be happy. 

I didn’t have to have the most bangin’ bod in order to be happy. 

What I learned in about a two-year span of time was that I get to be happy, just to be happy. And when I learned how to do that, and I learned how to shift my mindset that opened up the door for me to finally be able to dial in my nutrition and exercise routines. I was able to really create the lifestyle that I always wanted. 

Had I not made that shift, I would have had the same limiting beliefs that have held me back in the past, the fears that have kept me from believing that I could look and feel the way I desired. 

I'm so grateful for that moment. And I'm so grateful for the journey and the work because it was not easy to dig all that up, throw it out, face it, and move on past it. But that's why I do this. You aren't meant to be perfect. I want to give that moment to as many other women as I can. 

I want you to know that you are enough. 

You deserve to enjoy life, not just battle through trying to prove how tough and accomplished you are. 

I want you to know that you can do all the things and you can take time for you to you can do it just for fun. 

You can smile for the sake of being happy. 

So if you hear nothing else, today, I want you to hear this:

You are enough. 

So I hope that helps you. I hope it inspires you.

And if it did, please share it with me if you want to send me a private message. You know, I would love to hear it.

If you'd like to work together to reach your goals without the misguided ideal of perfection, you can schedule a call with me here.

But if you need me to remind you how worthy you are. Send me a message. I'm happy to do that too. 

Because you are enough.