I used to go rock climbing quite a bit. It was quite a rush, and a great way to stay in shape.
When I started, I had some kind of mental blocks. Different climbs are rated at different levels of difficulty.
Kind of like earthquakes on the Richter scale. For example, a 4.0 is an easy stroll in the park.
A 5.0 is where you’ve got to use your hand and legs, but it’s still pretty easy. Not steep. Pure beginner level stuff.
Up to the 5.10 and beyond, it gets pretty hairy. This is the stuff you see people doing in the movies. The kind where they have to reach their hand up over some small ledge, not seeing if there are any holds or anything.
Then grab it with just a couple of finger and fling their legs up and over on pure faith that they’ll find something.
The hardest climb I did was a 5.8. I only did it once.
The hardest climb I did up until that point was a 5.5.
Luckily, my friend, who was a much, much more experienced climber than I, was also much, much wiser than I.
Up to that point, we had done a few climbs, mostly 5.3’s and 5.4’s. Easy stuff, based on my level.
He said there was this one climb that was pretty cool, that was up this rock called “Suicide Rock,” based on some old Native American legend where two lovers who were from opposite families jumped to their death.
He told me not to worry, that although it was a “face climb,” meaning that there were no big cracks or ledges to grab hold of, (meaning you had to carefully balance your weight on small deformations in the surface of the rock), it was only a 5.4.
While I was climbing up, and while he was rappelling me (meaning he had already climbed, and had tied himself into the rock, and was pulling the rope up as I climbed) he had a weird grin on his face.
After we got to the top, and were about ready to hike down the backside, he asked me how it was.
I said, “Pretty, easy. Just like you said.” Then he started laughing.
“I lied,” he said, still smiling. “It’s not a 5.4, it’s a 5.8. If I told you it was a 5.8 you never would have made it up!”
Life, as I’m sure you’ve realized by now, is the same way.
If you truly believe it’s going to be easy, it will be.
If you truly believe it’s going to be hard, it will be.
It’s absolutely, totally, and completely up to you.
Change your beliefs, change your life.
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