Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Rock Climbing!!

So I've always wanted to go rock climbing.  For one thing, not sure exactly how to say this, but I always just thought it'd be something that my body could do.  And it looked fun.  And like problem solving.  And good exercise.  All things that I'm a fan of.

So amongst all the crossroading that has been going on around here, J and I decided we were gonna go.  She got a Groupon and we went last Friday.

Dudes, rock climbing is awesome!  I really want to do it again.  Killer upper body workout.  Great mind workout.  Really fun.

But what I didn't expect was how it would stretch me.  I didn't expect to be scared.  I'm not scared of heights.  But I'm not gonna lie, when I got to the top and looked down, wowzers!  And when I fell off the wall, scariest thing EVER.  Seriously.  And that's another thing I didn't expect - how much you need to trust.  You need to trust yourself that you can do it.  You need to trust your partner taking up your slack and lowering you down.  And you need to trust that someone set up that rope system properly.  So it was a mental stretch along with a physical workout.  I felt simultaneously shockingly vulnerable and physically capable and mentally engaged.  And that is a powerful thing.

The other thing that J and I noticed was that rock climbing is a metaphor for life.  It is hard.  Uphill battle.  It takes focus, determination, flexibility, and a little help from your friends, and sometimes a little help from the random stranger guy you just met.  When you fall down, you have to pick yourself up and try again.  Sometimes you need to stand back and plot your course, but other times you only need to see one move into the future.  Ha, and sometimes your friends on the ground can see the move you need to make more clearly that you can.  And once you see the move, you need to MAKE IT, go, NOW, because hanging on the wall thinking about the move only weakens your muscles while you wait.  Ultimately only you can make the move.

Rock climbing.  Metaphor for life.

2 comments:

Darcy said...

Pickles is a natural climber--I mean scaling things since she was 2. I've been thinking about trying her out with some lessons because I think the problem solving would be fun for her.

Of course, now I want to try it too.

Amber said...

Darcy - this has been my tagline lately: DO IT!!!!