Fast forward to my teens... My friend took me to Mount Lemmon for a day of climbing. We set up all of the gear, went over the ins and outs of climbing and then before you know it, I was scaling a rock wall that was 50 feet high. This was a thing?! I can climb rocks?! My heart was on fire. I loved it!
Fast forward to my twenties… I now had three kiddos. Throughout the years, I continued to pursue my new passion - climbing. Mostly, I climbed at parks and jungle gyms with my kids - sadly, none of the other moms climbed. I was hoping to find a partner to share in my climbing enthusiasm, and then one day an acquaintance of mine happened to get into climbing. I was ecstatic! I took her out to Mount Lemmon and she loved it! She eventually got her own gear. We had a blast! We went outdoor climbing once a month or so. The only problem? She lived down the street from a climbing gym. Guess who could out-climb me within 2 months? I was honestly devastated. Happy for her, but personally devastated. I couldn’t understand why something that I was so passionate about felt so out of reach. We continued to climb together, but I really couldn’t keep up. I tried to bury my disappointment, pat myself on the back for what I could do and put on a happy face. Yet, when I looked up at climbs I ached to accomplish and were just out of reach, my heart sank. Fast forward to my forties… In the climbing world there is a grading system. A 5.5 is like climbing a ladder, easy peasy. A 5.8 is where it starts getting technically challenging and 5.10+ is where the really good climbers hang out. I am now in my mid-forties and can climb a 5.9, but it is quite the challenge and I have never been able to lead anything above a 5.7. I used to be embarrassed I wasn’t farther along in my progress. I’ve been bouldering since my youth and belay climbing for over 30 years. Then it hit me. One day I realized, “So what!?” So what if I’m not a 5.10 climber. Do I have a blast when I get to go out? Heck yeah! Do I feel fulfilled after a day of exhausting bouldering? Absolutely! Do I feel empowered by finding a way up a new challenging climb? To my core! I realized that while climbing was my passion, it was not my priority. My kids, my life, my career all came first. Climbing has never come naturally to me. I always scratched my head and wonder why God gave me such a passion to climb without the gifts for it. Even so, I will always love climbing. It is in my blood. I now help people ascend to greater heights in both their personal and professional endeavors as a coach. I suppose in those regards I am a 5.10+ climber, albeit not quite in the manner I envisioned as that little girl darting through the hay fields, escaping grasshoppers, with the sole aim of climbing as high as possible up apple trees. Is there an area of your life you are holding yourself to an unrealistic standard? An area that could use a nice dose of “So what, life is beautiful as it is.” If yes, I invite you to join me in the gratitude for what is.
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