The 3 Life Lessons That I Never Valued Until I Started Rock Climbing
How it made me a better person than I was yesterday.
I started rock climbing on-and-off a few years ago. It was fun, but I wasn’t particularly good at it.
Though I always thought that I would be if I had just spent a little more time and effort into it.
My friend from high school recently found out about this adventurous sport. He trained himself almost every day. He really peaked within one year and got hired to be a coach in a climbing gym. I admired his commitment and endurance.
I could be the same too if I put more effort into it.
My other friend from high school started out rock climbing recently too. I frequently see the videos she posted on Instagram after each climb she aced. It was cool I thought.
I think I could do those same movements too if I was there.
It wasn’t until this summer that I’ve decided to finally put more effort into it ( I have nothing better to do under the pandemic strike anyways). But then I discovered one problem — acing those routes weren’t as easy as I’ve always naively believed.
As ignorant as I was, I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve only truly understood these 3 things after months of regular climbing:
Lesson 1: Nothing is as easy as it seems
It is always easy to underestimate things, especially when you’re an ‘I-can-do-the-same-if-I-try’ kind of person.
The feeling you get when you had the climbing wall right in front of you is so different, that videos you see of people climbing don’t truly reflect how hard it really is.
This is the time when I yelled at myself in front of the wall: “What the f, I can’t even do a V2!”. (FYI, ‘V’ is a level system in the climbing world).
Here’s when I realized I should be humble. Not only towards climbing, but also other things in life:
That guy on Linkedin with a crazy CV and his crazy connections? That writer on Medium who started out early this year but already has hundreds of followers? That friend of mine who likes baking a lot and has mastered the art of pastry?
Yea, all that.
Nothing is as easy as it seems. You’re fooled by your own brain if you believe so because everything takes time and effort.
Lesson 2: Everything should be treated with the same level of respect
Having said the first point, this brings me to the second.
I really hated myself for the way I acted before, I was just straight out ignorant, to begin with.
Every time I go climbing, there are always timid newbies and crazy hardcore climbers.
I hate to admit, I used to admire the ones who could pull themselves up on a ceiling wall and tend to secretly belittle those who would scream “I’m scared, please let me down~” on a flat wall.
But it shouldn’t be this way.
Everyone should be treated with the same level of respect and support, regardless of their progress.
I’m not only referring to everyone, but also everything here.
Here’s an example: people have the tendency to judge others according to the Univerisity course that they major in.
That girl across the dorm hallway who does Medicine? Her course seems superior to a Business foundation course.
“Medicine is much more demanding”, “the course has a much higher requirement”, “it has a clearly defined career path of becoming a doctor though”, people usually would suggest.
Whilst this is half true, the level of difficulty could vary according to different people. Everything has its own challenges and they should be treated equally because that’s how we build an encouraging community.
Lesson 3: The art of being kind to each other
Although this point might seem irrelevant, I really did only start to see this until after I really started to rock climb.
I always viewed myself as the timid kind of person whenever I’m around strangers. I never really initiate conversations with people I don’t know. I arrive at the rock climbing center with my friends, we do our own thing, we leave.
That has always been the way.
Until this one time where we met a girl struggling in one of the routes, one that I’ve already topped. I saw the parts that went wrong with her movements. Yet, I didn’t say anything and I just watched her struggle instead.
“Put your right foot on the hold above your knee, and grab the one on top of you”, cried my friend to the poor girl. Surprisingly, the girl listened to the advice and topped that route.
She was really happy and thanked us for helping midway (even when I didn’t do anything), it saved her much energy.
I was surprised as well, I never thought of doing such a thing. But it feels good just to help people out, even when I don’t know them in the first place.
In the end, the girl also returned us a favor back by advising us when we were climbing other routes that she previously did.
It made the experience much more fun and valuable.
Our actions can really affect the experience of others. Whether I choose to be cool or to help others out; to be engaged or be unenthusiastic with other people. My actions can profoundly affect how accepting or welcoming this community is.
After all, being kind to others isn’t as hard as I thought, I just never took the initiation.
Yes, the key takeaways sound cliche and simple in here. Most probably have heard of it. Unfortunately, not everyone who has heard of it understands it. Not everyone who understands it does it.
Some of you might simply be inspired by this article (I hope). If that’s the case, then congrats! Some people might need a kick to value the importance of these lessons.
For me, rock climbing was my kick. It did make me try to be a better human.
What’s yours?
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