bouldering

This week in my Outdoor Pursuits class, we got to go bouldering. I'm still sore! I've done a bit of bouldering on a small wall here at school, but hadn't been since last spring. And it turns out I was in for more learning than I had even expected.

I've always assumed that I was terrible at climbing because I'm not very strong. And while that does play a role of course, I was surprised to learn that what may be just as significant as strength is technique. On a lot of the different climbing paths, I couldn't make it to the top at first. But after a time or two of re-analyzing where the different hand and foot holds were, I could make it. The key, of course, is to simply try again each time I fail, to view failure as one step closer to success.

But as I was climbing, there were just some paths I could not figure out how to complete. My instructor came up to ask how I was doing, and I showed him where I wanted to go. He watched me try, and suggested a couple new techniques like switching my feet or reaching up to a higher hand-hold instead of across to a seemingly easier one. Looking back, I can see the parallels again. Sometimes when we just keep struggling and can't seem to figure out our life, our hearts, our direction, or our souls, we need to step back and ask for help. Sometimes another person can show us a little change that could change everything. It might be suggesting that we write five things we're grateful for every morning to start our day. It might be a probing question about our motives. It might be a challenge to have mercy on ourselves.

Finally, I was reminded that it's okay to be sore. Climbing, I used muscles that I generally don't use for much else! I've been sore for days afterward. Similarly, when we're learning to climb new walls inside, new areas in our minds and hearts, we might not have the mental strength or emotional capacity to walk away without some pain. And that pain of trying something new isn't bad. Just like I might get sore from using un-used muscles, I might feel inner pain from learning new pathways in my soul.

So those are a few things I've pondered since climbing last week. I want to climb more.