From the high notes to the high slopes!

Not being a very 'sporty' person (how did I give myself this label?), skiing has never appealed to me, and frankly, the thought of a whole holiday doing it has always terrified me, so I have never tried it. This year, Ross and I will have been married for 10 years, and in that whole time, he has gone skiing without me almost every year - he loves it. So this year when both he, our children, and a group of friends decided to head to the Alps, I decided I didn’t want to miss out. It was time for me to face my fears and hit the slopes.

As a choir director, I have spent the past 13 years encouraging people to give singing a go. They will have often been resistant, citing a negative past experience at school or been told they can't sing by someone (unqualified!) in their home life. I fully believe (and have seen evidence of many times) that if you give singing a go within a supportive and positive environment (such as a choir), then you will find it hugely beneficial to your mental wellbeing and most times grow to love it and, as a consequence, improve.

Despite this, I have to admit I have not been good at pushing myself out of my own comfort zone in unfamiliar areas - and skiing, I recently reflected, is a great example of this.

So in April this year, I went skiing for the first time. On my second day of lessons with my very patient and supportive instructor, Benjamin, as I went up the travelator for what felt like the 300th time, I was in tears, filled with complete frustration at how hard I was finding this 'new' thing.

It was in this moment I felt an affinity with all the brave people who had come along to try out our choir without any prior experience. Trying out a new activity, whatever it is, is daunting - the new people, the unfamiliar surroundings, and feeling uncomfortable and out of control. But in addition to this, it is the realisation and acceptance that you probably won’t be very good or even proficient at it at first.

But why should you? Wobbling around on my skis, why was I so frustrated? I became cross with myself for not being able to ski straight away. I hadn't ever done it before for goodness sake, yet I thought I would be able to run before I could ski! Why, as adults, when we can do so many things so well that we’ve trained in for years, would we expect to be okay at everything?

When new choir members tell me how hard they find it to hold their part and how frustrated they are becoming with themselves, I ask them why would they expect to find it easy? It's a skill the same as skiing and any other activity you might try, and if you're new to it, it's a big learning curve - but that's okay. It's the sense of growth and journey that give us the real sense of achievement, isn’t it? I think it would all get very boring very quickly otherwise.

So, back to the skiing and my own 'journey.' By the end of the week, I skied my first blue run (albeit very slowly and with a lot of help from Benjamin!), and the feeling of pride and power that moment, for embracing my fears, made the tears and painful legs worth it.

I’m so pleased I pushed myself out of my comfort zone, and in the end, gained an incredible new experience with my friends and family that I had never imagined possible before. In fact, it was so good that we’re all going again next year! But much more than that, I am humbled to have finally understood and felt the same fear of the unknown that so many of our choir members feel when they first come to us. Now, it only strengthens my resolve that everyone should give singing a go - and possibly even skiing!