Extremely Passionate or Just Extreme

     I admire people who are passionate about things in life and somewhat envious at times.  I have always had a job (thankfully) and strong beliefs on various topics, but I was never truly passionate about them as some people are today.  It appears that pursuit of a passion motivates people and drives them forward which fulfills their life in a positive way.  This world needs these passionate people.

     On the other hand we have extremists who seem to have similar passion and motivation but lacks the positive prospective that a passionate person has.

     I appears to me people with a passion are open to discussions about the topics whereas extremists don’t want to hear your opinion if differs from theirs.  Conversing with a passionate person can be enlightening, informative and enjoyable because it’s a two-way conversation. 

     Unfortunately the same cannot be said about a conversation with extremists since it always seems to be aggressively one-directional.  I rarely try to engage an extremist in conversation since my opinions will never be allowed.  I consider it fruitless to argue when my opinions won’t be considered.  On occasion I might accidently stumbled into a discussion with someone that has a fanatical opinion but not often.  Sometimes the news media will interview extremists of opposing opinions, that’s’ always a train wreck providing no worthwhile information.  It just seems to just solidify the argument of both parties.

     People with passion are open-minded but extremists are closed off to others opinions.  It seems possible for passionate of people to morph into extremists but the road back from extremism to passion seems more unlikely.  I’ve noticed the topics of debate that create the most tension are generally religion, politics or personal rights. 

     Freedom of speech is a right we have in the US, which I value.  Fanatics and extremists aren’t interested in others opinions, so be passionate with your beliefs but listen to others they may have something worthwhile to say.  “Just Saying…..”

Learning to snowboard (Sundown Mountain - Dubuque Iowa)

I learned to ski when I was in college and it was a sport that I knew I would love before I even tried it.  My first ski experience was at the ski resort in Galena, Illinois.  Freestyle skiing was just starting back then and was becoming a popular new event with Wayne Wong as one of the favorite skiers in this new freestyle skiing sport.  I really enjoyed skiing but living in Missouri limited my opportunities to ski frequently, which sometimes made me think about moving out west.  Since my first ski experience we have gone to many different resorts in Colorado, Nevada, Vermont, Missouri and Iowa. 

Due to cost and convenience we started going to Sundown Mountain in Iowa for winter skiing for a few years and one year I decided I would try snowboarding since my son (Pat) preferred that over skiing.  I figured that snowboarding in Iowa would be an ideal place to learn since Midwest skiing is less intimidating than some of the bigger resorts out West or in the Northeast.

I was anxious to try so Pat & I made sure we were first in line to get our snowboards.  Now, Pat had already been snowboarding a few times and he did quite well so in this case I was the beginner not my son.  Another difference between us was that Pat had a skateboard that he used at home and even though snowboarding is different there are some similarities, whereas I never messed around on his skateboard very often.  However I was a skier and had been for many years so I was confident that learning to snowboard would not be a problem plus I intended to take lessons.  After picking up my board and boots I headed over to my first lesson and not to anyone’s surprise I was the oldest one at the snowboard lesson by about 30 years including the instructor.

The almost 20 year old instructor gave us verbal instructions on how to get started, the first question being are you regular footed of goofy footed, Huh!  Well, I have occasionally been called goofy but not sure about my feet, each has 5 toes pointing in the same general direction.  As it turns out he wasn’t making a judgment about my feet just wanting to know if I put my left foot forward (regular footed) or my right foot forward (goofy footed).  I chose regular footed. I didn’t want to start off with the term goofy attached to my snowboard experience.

He explained how to put the board on which was pretty easy forward foot first (regular foot in my case) then the other foot.  You could do this sitting down but you had to get up without sliding don the mountain.  He then showed us how to turn and transition from right to left.  Which turned out to be more difficult because while transitioning from a right turn to a left turn meant you had to rotate the board from right to left leaving you on the slick flat surface of the board for a short time.  My idea was to rotate quickly from right to left to minimize my time on the unstable flat surface.  I found I turned right very well but my transition was poor and my left turns not so good either.  Basically what I needed was a round mountain that would always allow me to turn right and still end up back at the chateau. 

We also learned how to get on and off the ski lift, which is different process than it is with skis.  You unhook your back foot before getting on then just rest your back foot on the board when getting off.  I fell frequently getting off the lift.  I also fell frequently while trying to make left turns.  The one thing the instructor didn’t teach us was how to fall.  Although falling came naturally to me I made a big mistake by trying to break my fall and ended up in the First Aid station about 10 minutes after I started my lesson. 

At the First Aid station all they could really do was put an ice bag on my shoulder, which I had wrenched badly (torn rotator cuff) and send me back to the clubhouse.  So here I am sitting in the clubhouse with a bag of ice on my shoulder and the rest of our ski party comes in all asking how could I get injured so quickly, they hadn’t even put their skis on yet.  How is that possible? Well you just have to work at it.  I sat for a while not noticing the pain as much as the humiliation then I ditched my snowboard for my skis finally joining my friends on the slope.  I tried the snowboard later that day with a new instructor (older) but by that time I was too gun shy of falling and gave it up.  Oh! Well I'll just stick to skiing.

 

Social Conscience

     It seems to me that all of us need to be socially responsible but those blessed with great wealth and influence requires a greater responsibility to have social awareness and conscience.  In reality it appears it's the opposite.  Politicians, entertainers, sports celebrities, world leaders, executives, corporations, etc. are in the news frequently but not in a flattering way.  Many are apologetic when they are caught with their pants down (figuratively speaking of course) but not in a genuine way.  Most seem arrogant and entitled because they are in a position of power but they are only powerful because we give them power.  It's time to take the power back from those that don't deserve it.  Don't get me wrong their are some people with influential positions that show they truly have a social conscience even in the entertainment field.  We all make mistakes in life so I won’t write any one off for a few past indiscretions but continuing this pattern seems to represent a lack of social conscience.

     We all need heroes to inspire us but choose someone worthy, throughout the different stages of your life.  As a young child your parents are your heroes, so parents need to provide a good example.  In school, teachers, sometimes other students might have a great influence over your decisions.  As we get older it appears people in the entertainment field have a big impact on young adults, but many times it is in a negative direction.  I would love to think that some of the actions of these self-indulgent celebrities would diminish their following but it doesn't appear that it has.  The bottom line is that while traveling though life we will choose people to admire and there are many worthy choices but there are also many unworthy as well.  The choice of whom you admire is always yours and you can change those choices at any time.

     So how can we be a positive impact, well I don’t have all the answers but I can tell you what my personal objectives are.  I will not support those in power that are not socially responsible.  I will not buy their music, see the movies, vote them into office, buy their sports memorabilia, etc.  It is the best way I see to get the message out to them by affecting their $ income.  Now I know I’m just one person and my boycott alone will not affect them but it’s my small way of affecting change and it makes me feel more pro-active.  I welcome your thoughts and ideas.  “Just Saying …”