Overcorrection

I am an overcorrector.

I over adjust.

I exaggerate the correction.

I think when people (Brian, and possibly others 😜) refer to me as dramatic…this is what he means.

One of the best ways to see my overcorrection in real time is to play Mario Kart with me. I cannot play that game. Every turn is an opportunity for a massive oversteer, and I take it each time. My car swings wildly from one side of the road to the next, and my family yells in frustration. A typical race lasts about 10 seconds for me.

Sigh.

Overcorrector.

It’s not just Mario Kart though. I overcorrect in real life, too.

A few years ago, we spent spring break in Utah at a ski resort. For me, the ski boots are always the trickiest part of the trip. Since I live most of my days in Texas, my ski time is limited and my ski gear is always rented. Boots are just tricky.

On the second day of skiing, I noticed my shins were really sore. My boots felt fine the first day, so I figured the soreness would dissipate.

It did not.

By noon, I could hardly stand. The pain was excruciating. I told Brian I was done for the day. I took my boots off, drove out of the canyon to the ski rental store, and told the worker my story.

“Sounds like shin-bang. Your boots are too big.”

😳

He told me a perfectly-fitting boot was all that was needed. I was skeptical, but desperate.

He brought out a pair of smaller boots. My shins still hurt. We went smaller. Still some pain. Even smaller. The boots were so tight, but the pain was gone. Flooded with appreciation, my eyes got teary. I made a mental note of the size—24.5. Man, that was a smaller boot. Three sizes down! Could this really be the correct size? I didn’t know, and I didn’t care. If the new boots would let me ski pain-free, I was all in.

Thankfully, my shin-bang was gone…just like that. I skied as usual for one more day and had a great spring break.

Woo-hoo!

The next January, driven by my fear of shin-bang, I asked for a 24.5 ski boot. What was I doing? I know it is going to be much too small. My normal shoe size is a 9.5, MAYBE a 9, depending on the brand. For reference, a 24.5 ski boot is about a 7.5 in women’s shoes. This was a bad idea—but I don’t care. I’m not getting shin-bang again.

OVERCORRECT.

It was tight as could be, just how I wanted it. Let’s be honest—my toes hurt. I rationalized this, believing it was bad skiing technique that was causing the toe pain. After several days of skiing, both big toes felt severely bruised. OUCH.

I ordered the same size when we skied over spring break that same year. I was taking no chances.

OVERCORRECT.

Three more days of skiing, and my big toes were soooo tender. After a few weeks, both big toenails fell off.

OFF!!

For the love.

In case you don’t know, toenails grow extremely SLOWLY. About ten months later, they were looking normal—just in time to ski again. Brian and I went to Park City for a medical conference. You would think I had learned my lesson.

Nope.

I skied twice that year. Six days in total. I wore boots that were 24.5, and both my big toenails had fallen off by the end of March.

I am an idiot.

In the months that followed, I thought a lot about my toes. Was this my new normal? Would I ever be able to ski without sacrificing my toenails? I grew tired of the pattern. Spring break 2026 came, and we were renting ski equipment, per usual. My ski boots were tight, like they always were these days. I looked over at my girls, and noticed that their ski boots were the same size as mine.

What the?

My girls have MUCH smaller feet than me.

In an instant, I knew I needed to make an adjustment. I got slightly bigger boots. They did not feel good. I went up just one more size, and they felt great! A little nervous (please don’t let me get shin-bang again!), I grabbed the bigger ski boots and skied like normal. Miraculously, my toes felt fine, and my toenails stayed attached to my toes. Probably for the first time in my life, I didn’t overcorrect. I corrected just enough.

Shocking, right?

Making slight adjustments and little corrections does not come naturally to me. I spent almost two years without big toenails as proof! But like all things, I believe it is a skill I can practice.

And it will take A LOT of practice.

Seriously.

Heaven help me!

SO. MUCH. PRACTICE.

In the meantime, just don’t ask me to play Mario Kart, OK? 😜

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