I was 26 the first time I skied. It was absolutely terrifying. I was on a 3% incline bunny hill and I was scared to death. Tiny kids were zipping around me while I was cursing under my breath at them. The worst of it was my husband, an expert skier, laughing at me. In retrospect, I understand that it was funny watching a grown woman fall down every three seconds on an almost-flat hill.

But that day? Not funny. I wanted to shove my ski pole up his…

Whoever coined that phrase “Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves back up” never lived/skied at 9-10,000 feet above sea level. Picking yourself up off the ground at that elevation over and over and over is absolutely exhausting. I’m not even a total spaz when it comes to sports. Which is why that first day was even more frustrating.

10 years later? Love skiing. It’s one of my favorite things ever. And no, I’m not great at it, but I’m good enough for me. I don’t do diamond runs, but I’m all over those blue runs.

I had a discussion just the other day with my husband. I said I’d rather be good at a lot of things than great at just one or two or three things. I mean, sure, ideally, I’d like to be awesome at a couple things and really good at a lot of other things. He felt the opposite. He’d rather excel at a couple things than be really good at a lot of things. To each his own. Me? I’ve always been “second string”. The one who got to play because the real athletes needed a break.

Where does that leave me? Well, I think it leaves me in a fantastic situation, to be honest. I’ve never been so talented at anything that the talent ended up consuming me, owning me. I remember wanting to be an Olympic gymnast (or figure skater, of course) when I was a little girl. Now? No thanks. I wouldn’t want to be elite anything.

I’m second string at life. And I’m cool with that. I actually love that about me. There’s very little pressure when you’re not the best. I’d rather dabble…in a lot of things. And still have plenty of time to try new things.

Second string isn’t bad at all, when you really think about it. Second string as a senior kind of felt unimpressive, even embarrassing, back in high school. But, really, all it meant was that I wasn’t better than the most elite athletes in school. But I was better than 95% of the other ladies that I went to high school with.

That ain’t bad at all. I’ll gladly take second string status in anything in life. ‘Cause second string is still pretty damn good.

My name is Suzanne Jacobetz, aka The Cursing Gourmet, and I am Bridget’s older (not necessarily wiser) cousin. I’m Generation X all the way and do not enjoy it when I hear 80s/90s rock on classic rock stations. I live in the mountains in Colorado with Mike, my husband of 10 years, 15+ miles from a grocery store. It’s a very quiet, peaceful life, or at least it used to be:  a year ago we had our first kiddo, a sweetie pie named Isabelle ❤️