A couple of months ago, we were out celebrating my husband’s birthday. Over the past year, him and I have discovered that we love bouldering, so that’s what we did! For those of you who don’t know what bouldering is, from my understanding, it’s pretty much like rock climbing but without the ropes and harnesses. They don’t go as high as rock-climbing courses do (though it feels like it), but you do climb over safety mats (don’t worry, we still try to play it safe;)).
I’m not a know-it-all when it comes to climbing, but I’ve picked up on the fact that a good chunk of the time spent at the gym is staring at the route to figure out how you’re going to get to the top. While you’re waiting for your turn, you get to see how others do it as well.
On this particular trip to the bouldering gym, I was watching as a guy struggled to get past a certain point because the closest holds for him to grab were out of reach. Only a few seconds passed, but he was able to get through it and continue his climb by retracing his last few moves and making a couple of changes.
If I was rock-climbing, I probably wouldn’t have learned as much of a lesson as I did from watching this guy. Because you’re not attached to anything when bouldering, it can be scary when you have no where to go. You can’t just let go and float to the ground or even risk a bigger jump than you’re used to, since there’s nothing to catch you just in case you don’t make it.
In life, we get stuck. Bad things happen, we hit dead ends, and we don’t necessarily always feel secure. Retracing our steps such as going back to college or starting a new relationship may seem like the biggest headache and the last thing we’d want to do. We’ve already made it so far, right? I used to think this way. Time is precious and I don’t want to have to re-do what I’ve already done, but like I said, watching the guy as he worked through this difficult course taught me a lesson and my view has change.
Is there anything in your life that could benefit from this view change? Going with the examples I already mentioned, do you feel like your job isn’t the right path for you and you need to seek a different form of education to qualify for something else? Are you in a relationship that even though you’ve invested a lot into, is hurting more than helping you? I don’t blame you, these changes can be hard! But they at least deserve some thought. Stepping back and finding security could definitely be the key to help you go so much further than you thought you could have!
One response to “Sometimes You Have To Go Back To Go Forward”
Even though it’s hard to take, this was a well-needed reminder. Thank you!
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