michelleparker
Michelle Parker is one of the best freestyle skiers in the world, but her biggest jump came from letting her “walls down” in a relationship. Here’s her story. For more on Michelle, go to her blog at michelle-parker.com.

I SUPPOSE that my lifestyle hasn’t promoted having normal relationships with many people. I’m rarely home, and when I am I prefer using my free time to catch up with my family. When I’m on the road I’m constantly meeting amazing people, but often times our relationship doesn’t span much farther than the few days or weeks I’m visiting for. I feel like relationships are fragile and deserve time and energy to grow. Those who are close to me understand this and that’s why we are still close. Having little time to be with the people I love prevented me from thinking about being in love, falling in love, or just having a boyfriend. The thought hadn’t really crossed my mind until a couple of years ago when I decided to let my wall down and give it a try. At the time, I wasn’t good at this. I had little practice, but figured I could learn a thing or two from this person. I went for it, I hung my heart out and let it be vulnerable for the first time in a long time. It felt amazing. I was free of a burden that I imposed on myself of not allowing my heart to be at risk. And then it ended. The time and energy that I put into this relationship seemed silly at that moment in my life, but I grew from it. I grew up and I became much stronger in the end. Now I know that it wasn’t silly at all, it was an amazing learning experience for me. I learned that time heals and forgiveness heals and now I don’t have any walls up preventing me from this incredible experience. That’s the biggest risk that I’ve taken in the past few years.