Once you’ve really mastered a skill, be it driving, playing music, painting or skiing, you can do it almost without thinking. But while you’re in the process of learning, it seems almost impossible that you’ll ever be able to do it, or at least that you’ll be able to do it with any degree of skill or grace. It was like that for Ira Riklis as he was learning to ski.
Thinking back on it now, Ira Riklis is sometimes amazed he made it through his first family skiing trip. It took him several uncomfortable hours just to get his boots and skis strapped on properly and to learn how to sidestep his way up a small hill that really didn’t even qualify as even a beginner’s slope. Today he could jump that hill without a second thought while zipping down a double black diamond slope. But back then, it felt to him like he’d scaled Mt. Denali when he finally reached the top. It’s something worth remembering when you’re faced with the challenge of learning something new.