Last weekend, I went climbing with my colleagues. I was intrigued, auto belaying sounded interesting and I like new experiences. So, I said yes, and the next thing I know, I was standing in front of a tightrope – after a 5 minute Gen Z style crash course that felt like a last minute final year project. I stood there like a newly registered carpenter as the harness between my thighs held my valuables hostage in a chokehold. Then, the demonstrator (Daryl, chill dude) explained how a trilock carabiner works, but not before casually glossing over the fact that I had to yeet myself off the wall once I reached the top.

”So you’re telling me that I have to voluntarily launch myself away from the wall, and pray the machine doesn’t ghost me mid-air?”
”Pretty much,” the demonstrator said, while scratching his head.

I’ll live to climb another day, but it’s safe to say it scared the shit out of me. To be clear, it wasn’t the height that spooked me, but the fear of the fall. See, I started the climb feeling at ease. “Oh, just like bouldering,” I thought. So, I climbed in confidence and eventually, I reached the midpoint and realised that the voices of my colleagues became a faint echo. All I could hear was my heartbeat in my eardrums, the weight of my breath and the fibrous tension of my fingers keeping me in place.

They must have felt my nerves.
“You can jump now,” one of them shouted.
“Yeah just come down first,” another followed.
I took a moment to pause and steadied myself after an exhale.
“To heck with that,” I thought. “I want to keep going.”

Somewhere along the climb, I understood – the higher you go, the longer the drop. High risk, high reward. This flipped a switch in my head and I knew I had to complete the climb, because how you do anything is how you do everything. By the time I reached the top, I hadn’t even realised because I was possessed by the zone and kicking off the wall made my heart race up to my throat. From the experience, I realised the difference between bouldering and auto belaying is endurance, technique and the instinct to swallow your heart back into your belly. I remember laughing awkwardly, landing ungracefully then lying there – flat on my back, limbs pointing to every cardinal direction, like a busted compass. “How was it?” they asked. “Fun,” I said.

The universe works in strange ways though, cause it reminded me of a conversation I had, using the same analogy. A friend of mine has been looking to start something new but was afraid of “climbing back down the mountain” to climb a new one.

”Ugh, it’s just that I’ve spent long nights trying to figure this one out man, but damn dude, it’s the wrong summit,” he said.
”You’ve done well though, why not take a moment to enjoy the view?”
“I have, and it’s nice, but it’s not it,” he sighed. “What if it doesn’t work out?”
“Did you think you could climb this rocky mountain in the beginning?”
He rolled his eyes.
”But now you can,” I smirked. ”Who’s to say you won’t climb the snowy mountain better? Same mountain, extra icing,” I added.
”Different animals and new equipments too – which I have no idea how to use by the way,” he countered.
”Sure, but you can still use your familiar equipments while you figure things out, and ropes aren’t any different,”
”Easy for you to say. You gonna stay up Kota Kinabalu forever or are you aiming for the Himalayas?”
”Maybe if you show me the ropes,” I joked.

While laughing, we came to the conclusion that everyone has their own “climbing style” and sometimes, you have to climb a few wrong mountains before climbing up the right one. The good news is that every climb contributes to our growth, sometimes in experience, sometimes in perspective, and almost always in grit. Anyway, this is all to say that I should climb more mountains (literally) if I want to use this analogy accurately but I’m also gonna end it this quote from Ray Dalio’s video, Principles for Success.

”I found that when I reached each new higher level of success, I rarely remained satisfied. The things we are striving for are just the bait. Struggling to get them forces us to evolve, and it is this struggle towards personal evolution with others that is the reward.” – Ray Dalio