Cliiiimmmmbbb the Highest Mountainnnnn!!!

I have a paralyzing fear of heights.  I suck at trust walks.  I don't believe in falling backwards into the arms of someone smaller than me and hoping they catch me.  And I super don't believe I can hang in the air from some tiny rope while a small person is my counter weight on the ground.  Super don't believe.

My roommate got into rock climbing this year.  He talks about it like crazy, purchased all the gear, and has avidly gone looking for climbing activities.  He invites me along occasionally, but my fear of heights and my fear of making a fool of myself are generally enough reason for me to come up with a reason not to go.

That all changed this week.  After another day of lamentations about relationships and him having to listen to my insane psychobabble, he offered the opportunity to go climbing again as something to fill my Friday night so I could stop thinking about what I may or may not rather do.  It seemed like a good way to stay out of trouble and he's enough heavier/stronger than me that I wasn't too worried about him killing me.

And so we spent all night making plans around work schedules, class schedules, and feeding the dog schedules.  I caught up on laundry so I'd have something to wear and as soon as my INSANE clinic was over, we set out to climb this lovely sheer wall of wet, cold rock.

After cramming my feet into special wall climbing rubber shoes...I did it. I climbed about 10 feet off the ground and my hands were so cold I couldn't pay close enough attention to surpass the jutted out part.  So I came down to warm the hands and reevaluate the rock face.

After watching the boys climb a few more times, I decided that this would be my last chance to conquer the climb until the spring.  So I strapped myself back into my harness, tied up all my knots and jumped back on the wall.  And after a long time of trying to find the right foot hold to keep me from smashing my head into the rock above me, I did it.  I conquered the trouble spot.  Of course, it took me forever and by the time I got to my next trouble spot, my arms were so sore and my legs were so tired and the sun was almost gone that I decided to save it for next time.  But I did it, I conquered the part which caused me to struggle for so long!!

More importantly, I didn't freak out.  Usually when I'm with other people doing things like this I apologize over and over again and I let myself get so embarrassed that I can't complete the task.  Then Grant said, "The person who does the best at climbing is the person who has the most fun."  I feel like I'm going to make this sentence my new life mantra.  Being able to be free to have fun while not feeling like I was ruining everyone's day was awesome.  Knowing I had plenty of time to just figure it out was exactly what I needed.

Now I can't wait to go again.  I didn't quite get to the top, but I'll be ready for the spring :)  Plus, now I know I need to get back to the gym so I'll be super strong and ready for next time!

Yay for new life experiences :)