Life is Like Climbing

I have found another way that climbing reflects life. The big, thank-god, save-your-life hold is just a few feet above and I need to figure out the sequence to get there. Then I need to execute the moves and try not to be too scared. Repeat. Yeah, life is like that.

I posted this on FB and got some interesting responses. So MPers, how is life like climbing?

Life is like climbing. I just want to get higher and higher. . .

never mind

It just looks like a jug, Lee. Better not dyno; ya might die!

Shawn Mitchell wrote:It just looks like a jug, Lee. Better not dyno; ya might die!

+1, no matter how well you've planned or how accurate you may be on your anticipation, nothing ever goes exactly the way you imagine it will.

Here's a video:

9 life lessons from rock climbing

EDIT: And here's a transcription of the 9 things

1. Don't let go
2. Hesitation is bad
3. Have a plan
4. The move is the end (each individual move is important)
5. Know how to rest
6. Fear sucks
7. Opposites are good
8. Strength does not equal success
9. Know how to let go

Now that I have small children I avoid long run outs.

Edit: So I am not going to go quit my job and then go work for a startup for less money but a huge stock options package.... :-)

And..... what Tristan said.

It's wanting a hamburger or a cheeseburger, but getting nothing and liking it

Sometimes the Thank God jug you were hoping for turned out to be a cruel joke; at which point you can either fall off and possibly die or you can gather yourself back under control and keep moving forward having faith that eventually there will be a jug.

Another is no matter how close we get to our partners, and no matter how much you have faith that they have your back (even after 20+ years); you ultimately do not know when they can fail you and dirt your ass; therefore, as in life, you are always ultimately responsible for yourself.

that big jub is gonna let me down, just like every one else in my life has.

• expect the worst, hope for the best.
• it's where you can feel intimate with your partners (whether you like it, or not) with, or without making any moves, while recognizing the consequences to prevent missteps.
• you run into clowns, bighorns, and wild jackasses; it's just like being on the [Vegas] strip.
• being tied to a partner who can still respect your need for space.
• you can totally sniff out pheromones, and testosterone.
• being offroute, and discovering something new, and more exciting.
• you don't want to hit rock bottom, and try your best not to go there.
• having a regular partner who sees you at your best, and worst, and who still adores, and accepts you.
• it feels good to get away from people, and your partner at times.
• hyperalert to some stranger breathing down my neck while in line at a store, or on a climb; it can be unnerving.

This is fun, Lee!

Life is like climbing because you're always trying to get your hands on nice big jugs.

Lee Smith wrote:I have found another way that climbing reflects life. The big, thank-god, save-your-life hold is just a few feet above and I need to figure out the sequence to get there. Then I need to execute the moves and try not to be too scared. Repeat. Yeah, life is like that.

I want to amend this statement.

Where I am is not where I need to go to. I can see where I need to go. It might not be the best place, but it is ...better. I must figure out how to get there. Sometimes when I do get there it isn't any better. But I need to carry on and fight through the fear. Gather, like Mike says. Find the next "better" place...move up as best as possible, and try not to go down, or fail, or fall although that happens. Like life.

Life is like climbing because:

The harder you work the easier it becomes.

You can't get there from here...

• being offroute, and discovering something new, and more exciting.

+1 and.....

Knowing that if I'm willing to move an inch I can open up a whole new world of possibilities!

What's your fixation with jugs anyway, Lee? I find that if the face is well featured, jugs don't matter much.

- Life is a continuous personal first ascent.

- Misinterpreting your partner's words/signals can be devastating (did he really say off belay?)

- Regardless of how wonderful the current hold feels, another wonderful hold is probably ahead. You just have to let go and MOVE in order to top out.

- Spot the objective, coil once and leap. Bouncing up and down, like indecision can leave you pumped.

- Meltdowns are a private affair. Keep it together while on route.

- Sometimes the crux seems never ending.

- We always want to squeeze in one more pitch before dark (death).

- We all have rocks (problems) to drag. Leave them at the base of the climb lest they impede upward movement.

Cindy Mitchell wrote: - Misinterpreting your partner's words/signals can be devastating (did he really say off belay?)

Cin -- just some tongue & cheeky here ---

"It wasn't that I wanted you to take me off belay when I said off-belay; I wanted you to empathize with my precarious emotional state while I was ..."

oh, that's what off-belay meant

"And when I said take, I don't mean take all the rope, I mean just enough rope"

Ah, got it

"And stop agreeing with everything I say!!...And this anchor stance sucks, couldn't you have gone 10' higher?? you know how much I hate this and if you don't know that by now...."

climbing is nothing like life, Lee

im really impressed nobody has taken "jugs" comment further yet ;)

Oh but I
Need some time off from that emotion
Time to pick my heart up off the floor
And when that love comes down
Without devotion
Well it takes a strong man baby
But I'm showing you the door

'Cause I gotta have faith...

Life is like climbing because the higher you get, the higher you want to go, until all of a sudden all you want in the world is to come down the way you came up but you can't because you don't have enough gear to make it all the way down but you decide what the hell, if I die I die, I can't stay here, and then you go for it and start crying when the single piece you're rapping off of shifts and there's that second of insane weightlessness that makes it feel like your hair is growing through your helmet and then you find a ledge you can traverse to safety, barely, and its like walking the razor's edge of mortality and you think "I must be the dumbest SOB ever to be doing this crap" and its so fragile and morbid its almost funny, then you reach the talus and look up to the stunningly beautiful monolith and it is funny, because you're going to do it again and you know it because this is life and not to do it again is death, or vise versa, and because you still believe in the CLIMB, the one that answers all the questions and makes it all worth it, and all the promises you whispered to the gods about get me out of this and I"ll quit are lies and embarrassing but maybe they're out there and maybe they're pissed and maybe next time the bargains won't work and you'll find out if they're really real and not just made up to make yourself feel like you're not alone.