A few months ago right before the Christmas holidays I had  a group of women at my house for a spirituality class that I teach and we were discussing the power of intention.  How could we use our intention  to create the absolute best  time of year for ourselves and our family?  My soul sisters and I started to write down ideas and thoughts surrounding the subject. How would we respond to people who push our buttons at this time of year?  What would we say no to?  How could we change, so our holidays would turn out great?  No stress,  a beautiful celebration with family and friends what ever that meant to them.   For my family and I we were headed out to Vail Colorado for a ski trip.  My intentions were clear I wanted to share the beauty of the mountains with my kids and enjoy every minute.  I wanted no drama or stress only playful, sweet fun!    I knew when I started teaching the class I had some intentions of my own for the Christmas vacation.

Allow me to digress a bit.   In the Summer of 2015 I took my daughter Ali and my Mom to Park City for a summer holiday.  It was magical.  More beautiful than ever because my two special girls  are with me.  Three generations all playing together in nature, my favorite past time.    My darling mother had never been to the Rocky mountains and I wanted to share this experience with her .  So off we went seeking wildflowers and beautiful vistas.  The trip started out with Ali having a hard time with the  altitude.  She was also over indulging in sugar.  BAD combination..  Panic attacks started to occur out of no where. Let me just say not the dream vacation I was hoping for .   While we had a beautiful time it would have been so much better without the panic attacks.  Our kids teach us patience and unconditional love.  I get that.  The point is our next trip for the family was back to the mountains.   Rut Ro… Scooby .  Let’s not put this on a loop.

So here is how the power of intention comes in.  I wanted this trip so badly.  I wanted to go and ski with my son Zach who is a senior in high school .  I wanted to create lasting memories of time together as a family.  I know the family dynamic will change when he is off to college.  I also knew I needed  to talk to my daughter and express  how deeply I wanted a stress free vacation.  I would give her an out.  She did not have to go on the trip if she did not want to.   Ali wanted to go, she promised that all would be well and I believed her.   I was so excited because the trip took on a life of it’s own.  I had always wanted my sister Tina to be with me on the mountains.  The power of intention.  Yay she and her whole gang were coming!  Yippee.

The trip got off to a less than positive start when I got the text in the middle of the night saying our flights had been canceled.  We would have to fly out later in the day.  No problem we would still get there.   Arriving  in Denver 6 hours later than originally planned we were met by the mother lode of snow storms.  I could not see 10 feet in front of me.  We were exhausted and just wanted to get to our place.   UGhhh.  We checked in a hotel and the kids reaction was priceless. Happy to order room service and jump in the hot tub and head out in the morning.  I was disappointed.  I want to see the rest of my family on Christmas. Zach and Ali’s attitude kept me in check.  My intention was for stress free and no matter what the world threw at me, the kids were being great.  So blessed.

We get to Vail and the temps are freezing, 10 below zero in the morning.   It is all good. We are going skiing , we are happy and excited.  I get Ali a private lesson on the mountain and we are all going to ski together later that afternoon.  The skies are blue it is now about 20 degrees outside.  We get  Ali and meet up with the rest of the gang.   I had an overwhelming feeling of  gratitude just to be there.   We start to ski and then it happened Ali started to feel like she had the pressure to keep up.  She wondered if I could ask the others to go on ahead.  No problem.  I was so happy for the communication.  I skied down to the others and said for them to go on.   On the way I said a prayer of thanks.  The kids met me and Zach said to me “Mom, I just had one of the moments that you talk about on the mountain,  it was so peaceful.”  Again my heart soared with appreciation of just being in the moment.   I told the kids to go ahead of me so I could be above them.  Zach went first and Ali followed..  only as she went down….she kept going and off the side.  OMG!!

There are no words when your kid goes under the rope and off the side of the mountain. Within seconds I swear to you an angel appeared.  Then another guy on the other side of me.  The first one is like “I got this!”  The other  man was from ski school.  I am looking ahead and suddenly Ali jumps up and said  ” That was awesome!” There is so much going on I can barely think.  My sisters brother- in- law Ken is rushing up the mountain. The first angel has already gotten himself down to Ali and is working his way out and up with her.  The other guy was starting to annoy me insisting I call ski patrol.  If I was alone I would have.  Your life can change in a second.  This I know for sure.  NO panicking.

The guy from ski school took off shaking his head at me.   Before I knew it ,Ali and the angel appeared back on the slope.  His son was at the scene.   The rest of my family joined us. I was so grateful.  I am like “who are you?” ” How can I ever repay you?” He looked me straight the eye and said “How about a Hug”?  Wow. Hugs are good people.  Amazing random act of kindness for my kids to witness.  Incredible calm energy all around. Let’s all remember how good people really are.  At our core, for the most part we know we are all connected.  When you help others even if it is only once is a while it reminds us of our humanity.  This experience makes me want to always be the better person.

So now back to Ms. Ali the former drama queen.   I am so ready for whatever is coming my way.   I am so grateful she is alright.  Thanking God for her safety. .  I say to her “Baby we are near the gondola, do you want to ride down?”  She turned to me and said,

“MOM how many times Have YOU told me … It is not how you fall down …It is how you get back up?? I got this , I am skiing down!”   Holding back the tears with a huge lump in my throat I whispered.  “I did not know you were Listening.  ”

Was it the power of intention or some divine intervention?  I will never know for sure.

I like to think it was a little bit of both.