Rock climbing + Patience

 

Psych & Such        |        6 AUGUST 2022

I've been learning to rock climb.  My intrigue with the sport started in high school when I had friends who climbed recreationally.  My deep, fiery passion for learning how to climb began with the latest summer Olympics, coupled with attending the IFSC Climbing World Championship here in Salt Lake a few months ago.

Specifically, I've been learning to boulder.  Bouldering really challenges everything about you:

• Your creativity
• Your balance
• Your grip and overall strength
• Your threshold for fear
• Your persistence
• Your problem-solving skills
• Your willingness to try
• Your ability to handle failure
• Your power
• Your proneness to injury
• Your flexibility
• Your recovery practices
• Your ability to fall gracefully
• Your ego

And, potentially above all...bouldering challenges your patience.

Some problems (i.e., a sequence of technical climbing moves like a climbing route, but without ropes) I've attempted over-and-over again, and have yet to successfully reach the top.  There are a few ways you can respond here:

1. Try again using the same solution
2. Try again using a different solution
3. Take time off or away from the problem, then return at a later date/time
4. Give up

In bouldering, and in life, all of these responses are appropriate and acceptable depending on the situation, person, and circumstances surrounding the problem.

In my own personal journey with bouldering, and in order to work my way through the learning curve, I focus on responses 1 through 3 above.  

• In YOUR own personal journeys, what response makes the most sense for the challenges you're facing?  
• What will yield the biggest return for your efforts?
• Which of your challenges do you need to see with new, fresh eyes?
• When things get particularly difficult, are you giving up too soon?  Too late?

What I've learned from bouldering is that topping (or fully completing) a problem requires the climber to be artistic in their movements, scientific in their execution, and patient in their expectations. Consider applying these same requirements to the challenges you face in order to intelligently maximize your time and efforts moving forward.

Photo source: https://militaryingermany.com/indoor-bouldering