The courage to do what it takes, even when you can't see your goal

Hey everyone!

I thought this article I read from the 2010 Olympic page was fascinating. Read the short blurb about an incredible Olympic athlete, and then I will add a couple of extra notes below. This is awesome!

As a member of the Canadian Association for Disabled Skiing (CADS) Edmonton, Viviane completed only one year of competition on the Canadian and North American skiing circuit with the Para-Alpine Canadian Development Team before she was invited to join Team Canada in 2008 to compete on the World Cup circuit. Amazingly, Viviane had only limited experience skiing before she began competing.

Born in the Montreal suburb of Brossard, Viviane is an intense competitor and took up alpine racing because of its independence, freedom and adrenalin. With only 4% vision, Viviane is led down the slopes by her guide Lindsay Debou, an accomplished athlete in her own right, at speeds over 100 km/hr. Through the use of radio communication, Viviane follows Lindsay's instructions to navigate the ski hill.

This past year, Viviane garnered many medals for Canada. She won gold in Super-Combined at the 2009 World IPC Championships-High 1 in Korea, as well as four more silver medals. At the 2009 World Cup Finals in Whistler, Viviane took home two gold and two silver medals.

Viviane is a well rounded athlete. She has already won two Paralympics gold medals in the sport of Goalball. She competed in the 2004 games in Athens and the Sydney games in 2000. Viviane retired from Goalball in 2005.

Isn't that fantastic? If you didn't catch it the first time, I want to paint this picture clearly for you. This woman cannot see down the mountainside, and yet she travels over 100 km per hour down the mountain! And the only thing she has to guide her is the sound of her coach's voice, telling her when to turn, when to anticipate a jump, and when to stop at the end.

How many of us would be willing to strap on some ski's, head to the top of the mountain and put a blindfold on before hurtling ourselves down at break-neck speed, with only someone talking in a radio to guide us? Wow! That is courage! That's guts! And a whole lot of faith that the person talking will not steer them wrong.

How many times have I been trying to achieve a goal, finish a task, or say the right thing to teach my children, and felt like I was stumbling blind in the dark all the while with no clear way to see my objective? You go on faith that it will happen, you'll make it, and everything will turn out right!

My encouragement for everyone is to keep going! Listen to the soft voice inside you: not the nagging, negative voice of defeat, but the outgoing, positive voice in your spirit that pushes you forward! That voice is your very soul looking forward, even when you are blind, and guiding you to the end of the race. Some call it 'Women's Intuition', 'Whispers of an Angel', 'Guidance from God', 'Gut Instincts' or whatever else you want to term it. I am a Christian, so I know what I call it, but the important thing is for you to listen to it, because you know it's right 99.9999999~% of the time, right? =-)

Happy holidays everyone! If I don't talk to you again before hand, I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas! Enjoy time with your families, and if you have missed goals in '09 thus far, reset them in January for 2010. I believe in you - now believe in yourself! Looking forward to hearing your success stories in the coming year!

Sincerely,

Andreas Zimmermann