wipeout

Who hasn't had a humbling experience before? Moments where you fall so hard or fail quite terribly? I think of them as a figurative wipeout. You'd be boarding and sure, your derriere hurts from falling backward and your wrists hurt from falling forward, but nothing beats a complete wipeout. You get up, spit out the remaining bits of snow that hasn't yet melted in your mouth, open your eyes to the blinding rays of the sun, and just lie there, stunned. You were literally swept off your feet, but it wasn't prince charming this time, it was your own doing. We have a lot of these wipeouts in life too, eh? Experiences that leave us somewhat stunned. And yes, for the next 20 seconds, you feel like a complete idiot because you're sure everyone just saw what happened. But you know, sitting on the chairlift, I can't even count how many times I've seen people wipeout: skiing, boarding, tubing. We all wipeout at some point, but if you look at it from a different perspective, you'll realize that we're all trying to stay up. We're all bruised. Just get up and go.
Professionals were all amateurs to begin with.