Getting Away From It All

December 30th, 2006 at 06:29am Keith Hemstreet 8

Our world moves in hyper-speed. We always have too much to do and not enough time to do it. If you’re not careful, weeks, months, even years can pass you by before you realize you’ve been running the race and ignoring that which makes life enjoyable.

Recently, I had a two-hour window between work and having to be home to watch my daughters while my wife works.

“What should I do?” I thought. Grab a coffee and catch up on emails? Knock out some of our bills that are overdue? Return two days worth of voice mail messages? The options were endless.

Then it dawned on me. Why don’t I take a few runs on Aspen Mountain? Of course, the usual nagging concerns quickly shot to the forefront of my mind. If I go skiing, I’ll just fall farther behind.

As most people would agree in these accelerated times, you never feel completely caught up. No matter how much you work, there is always something else that demands you attention.

Ultimately, what swayed my decision was the frustration I felt for not having been able to enjoy Aspen in recent months. “What’s the point in being in Aspen if all I’m going to do is work?”

I was on the gondola in fifteen minutes. Atop the mountain, I turned off my cell phone, consciously blocked all thoughts of the tasks I was putting off and took a nice groomed run down to the Gentlemen’s Ridge lift.

I tend to gravitate to this lift for three reasons. One, very few people ride this lift so you can always ride it alone, which is important to me. Two, it is slow. Three, the surrounding landscape is tranquil and awe inspiring.

Within seconds of boarding the lift my head was clear. The worries that I had had a short time ago had vanished. Everything but this moment on the mountain seemed insignificant.

It served as a simple reminder; when you’re feeling overwhelmed all you have to do it get away from it all. In Aspen, that’s easy.

Entry Filed under: Health, Aspen, Pitkin County, Outdoors