Everyday is a Gift

foodisfun

foodisfun

Active member
i get this magazine Urban Climber for free, and i never really read anything in it because it's not something i do. I got an issue today, however, and i decided to read the first little message/opening thing from the editor or whoever. It caught my interest and I read the entire thing, only to come across a pretty powerful statement that really stopped me for a second.

Now while this article may have been about climbing, it realtes to anything you do. The quote went as follows:

"You decide to step back outside and take a moment to look around, something you can't remember doing ever. It's the moment that's always forgotten, the final puase of the day. You take that mental snapshot and feel like the luckiest person on this earth because, today, all of this was yours : the rocks, the trees, the quiet, the frisky wind, the light blanket of soft white, the clean smell of the mountain- all of this, and there's a single set of footprints that proves today was truly for you. A gift."

This had a profound effect on me, because not only as a skier, but just a human being, I often forget to just stop and take in the little things. Even though I've heard everyone say some version of slowing down and not taking life for granted, this particular paragraph caught me. Whether I'm mountain biking, surfing, or skiing, I never really sit down after a session and just think about everything that was put on earth and came together to allow me to have just a little time for my own personal enjoyment.

So while Thanksgiving may have already passed, I hope we can all find some time at least once this season to look back up the hill at then end of the day and give thanks. Because after all, today is nature's gift to you - It's called The Present.
 


ive had the same sort of enlightenment. when you think about stuff like that its really satisfying and makes you feel really happy and wise. that paragraph pretty much sums it up

one of my favorite moments to reflect is to sit atop a hill at night taking a break from longboarding and just sit in the slience of the night and look at the lights and the sky and stuff and just meditate

+1 karma
 
on weekdays when im like the only person on the hill and its really early, i just look out onto the landscape around the mountain and realize im the luckiest person in the world.
 
more people need to feel this way, most importantly the people running the world's nations.

i really hope we can get our shit together and not destroy this beautiful planet we have called home for the entire existence of our species.
 
yea i agree. i guess country leaders are always "too busy," but i definately think everyone needs to take some time out and think about what we're given. when you become close to something and truly appreciate it, you never want to see it abused or let anyone else take it for granted.
 
I actually forgot another part that I really enjoyed too. following the paragraph I quoted, it goes on to say :

"At home there won't be an oven-roasted turkey waiting on the table or a fire kicking in the fireplace. No cinnamon wafting throughout the hallway, homeade apple pies, or pine cones decorating the windowsills. But, you don't really care. The only thing you'll look forward to tonight is that inevitable dream- the one about the world's most perfect line."

Whether it be a rock climbing, skiing, mountain biking, or any kind of line, I think we can all agree that the anticipation of dreaming about, and maybe even someday riding, the world's most perfect line, is what keeps us going. No matter what you have, or don't have, waiting at home for you doesn't define how you live your life.
 
some people dont realize how lucky we are to be able to ski. we are less that 1 percent of the world- less than one percent that can afford to ski. we should be thankful for the ability to buy skis, transportation, and lift tickets. one days worth of skiing for us is one years worth of wages for like 50% of world. i hope everyone realizes this.

the gift of life- having your 5 senses, living, waking up day after day in safe communties is the biggest gift of them all however. think of how many people on planet earth dont experience what we do. THINK of the BILLIONS of people who will never, EVER enjoy ONE DAY of skiing. not ONE day. be thankful

 
I like to think i do take time to think and look into things further than most people would, but in reality i probably dont. I love quotes like that, they really make you think.
 
I had a similar revelation, but somewhat different. I realized I dont need to feel ashamed for the way I think. that the world is amazing and I am fine with things as long as things are good for me.

so things can get shitty but I am confident I can crawl around on this rock, and survive. global warming, terrorism, the decline of american power. it all doesnt matter
 
i agree with this... to sort of combine two ideas here i often feel guilty that i'm so lucky to enjoy skiing unlike so many people, but i know i should just be thankful that i have that opportunity
 
yeah it doesnt matter to us- it matters to the livelihoods of millions of other people. dont be selfish- we are in a tremedous position to help out others as priviledged kids coming up in this world- don't forget that when you have an opportunity to help someone else's life
 
agreed

think of all the people who arent lucky enough to ski or do something else super awsome fun. weather its because they cant afford it or whatever. its like shit im lucky. and then ur on top pf the mountain and its like "damn beautiful" and then you shred some titty deep pow and its like yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa i love my life!
 
ahh bro thanks for that, lately ive been doing bad in school and my rents are comming down on me and the only things that seem to get away from that stuff is skiing and lacrosse, but instead of taking my rents too seriously ill try to think about it. idont even know what im talking about, but thanks.
 
i seriously think of this almost everyday, definitely everytime im out skiing i look around me see my self on a tiny chair lift surrounded by millions of trees and giant mountains and feel so small compared to the world yet feel like at that moment all i see is for me, it is a gift to even being able to be there at that moment with friends and feeling capable of going anywhere i'd want to go, 1% of the world gets to experience exactly what im feeling, thats crazy.

ask this to youself (i heard it on tv and made an impact on me) how would your life had been if you would have been born blind?
 
Thanks for bumping this again. I'm home from UVM on spring break now and I got a chance to stop by the beach yesterday while I was running some errands. Over Thanksgiving and Christmas break I drove down to the beach with friends at night and smoked a cigar on the boardwalk, but August was the last time I was really on the beach before yesterday. It was sometime around noon so the boardwalk was fairly active with older retired people, moms with their children, and some younger people perhaps on their lunch break. Unsuprisingly for March the beach and ocean were empty except for a lone longboarder. I would've been out there too but I lost one of my booties and I had just taken all the wax off my board cause I'm selling it.

Although I wasn't gonna surf I figured I might as well just walk down towards the water because I really had nothing else to do. As I got closer to the water the sounds of traffic, people, and construction soon dissapeared and I was left with only the crashing of the waves and an occasional seagull flying overhead. The sun was shining, the winds were light, and for a second I flashbacked to a perfect day at the mountain this winter. The geography was vastly different, but the feeling was the same. Everything was right. Things in nature had just come together perfectly to allow me to experience ultimate joy and satisfaction doing nothing but being in that location at that time. Thoughts of the paper I have due and the midterms and finals up ahead soon were non-existent and my mind was clear.

I headed back up towards the boardwalk after about 10 minutes feeling revived and, for the first time in a while, happy to be alive. I got in my car and as quickly as if smeone flipped a switch, it began to rain. The winds picked up, the temperature dropped, and the clear blue skies were replaced by gray storm clouds. Just another reminder how quickly things can and do change, and the importance of appreciating all we have. My birthday is friday and my mom keeps asking what I want as a gift. I don't tell her, but inside I know all that I need is the present.
 
Mornings really are truly beautiful, i dont get to see them often, and its a shame. But the last time i remember getting on my home mountain @ 9 o clock..it was a gorgeous feeling.
 
That is amazing dude.

Being able to experience something like that really puts life into perspective.

I really like the last few closing lines of what you wrote. THAT is really something.
 
Bumping this now because for most people the season is really getting into swing now. Don't forget that final pause when your day is done.
 
so a while back i had to write about a personal experience for an english class, so i pretty much took stuff i wrote in here and put it together. i'll post the final version here in case anyone wants to read it (although it's long). even though the ski season is over for most of us, the message still definitely applies.

Sometime last year I received a free issue of Urban Climber Magazine. Rock climbing isn’t a sport I participate in, but for whatever reason I decided to look inside and see what it was all about. I turned to the page with an opening letter from the editor which caught my interest and I continued to read the entire passage. Towards the end of the reading I came across a powerful message that made me stop and think for few minutes. The paragraph read, “…you decide to step back outside and take a moment to look around, something you can’t remember doing ever. It’s the moment that’s always forgotten, the final pause of the day. You take that mental snapshot and feel like the luckiest person on this earth because, today, all of this was yours: the rocks, the trees, the quiet, the frisky wind, the light blanket of soft white, the clean smell of mountain — all of this, and there’s a single set of footprints that proves today was truly all for you. A gift.”

This had a profound effect on me, because not only as a skier, but just a human being, I often forget to just stop and take in the little things. I've heard many people say something about slowing down and not taking life for granted, but this particular message grabbed my attention. Whether I'm mountain biking, surfing, or skiing, I never really sit down after a session and just think about everything that was put on earth and came together to allow me to have just a little time for my own personal enjoyment.

I was home from UVM on break that spring and I got a chance to stop by the beach while I was running some errands. I had driven down to the beach with friends at night during Thanksgiving and Christmas break, but the previous August was the last time I was really on the beach before that day. It was sometime around noon so the boardwalk was fairly active with older, retired people, moms with their children, and some younger people perhaps on their lunch break. Unsurprisingly for March the beach and ocean were empty except for a lone longboard surfer.

Although I wasn't going to surf I figured I might as well just walk down towards the water because I didn’t have much else to do. As I got closer to the water the sounds of traffic, people, and construction soon disappeared, and I was left with only the crashing of the waves and an occasional seagull flying overhead. The sun was shining, the winds were light, and for a second I flashbacked to a perfect day at the mountain that winter. The geography was vastly different, but the feeling was the same. Everything was right. Things in nature had just come together perfectly to allow me to experience ultimate joy and satisfaction doing nothing but being in that location at that time. Thoughts of the paper I had due and the midterms and finals up ahead were non-existent and my mind was clear.

I headed back up towards the boardwalk after about ten minutes feeling revived, and for the first time in a while, happy to be alive. I got in my car and as quickly as if someone flipped a switch, it began to rain. The winds picked up, the temperature dropped, and the clear blue skies were replaced by gray storm clouds. Just another reminder how quickly things can and do change, and the importance of appreciating all we have. My birthday was approaching soon and my mom kept asking what I wanted as a gift. I didn't tell her, but inside I knew all that I needed was the ‘present.’ French poet Guillaume Apollinaire said it best when he stated that, “Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.”

 
I love it when I have moments like that. When you can't help but to smile and realize how lucky we really are. Sure, I might get stressed about a grade or something like that, but honestly, it's so great to be able to get stressed about a grade.

I live in Brooklyn, but I'm so glad I have a house in Vermont where I can just wander in the woods for hours. There are times when I feel somewhat constricted by the city and the lack of nature, however, I realize how great it is to live in Brooklyn AND be able to spend a lot of time in Vermont.

Man, life's awesome.
 
that was a great post. i think about this every time i ride up the chairlift surrounded by mountains and with my friends. ii get all tingly
 
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