See You At The Top!

Here's a journal entry I wrote the day after we went rock climbing during our mountain trip.

June 30, 2007

It's the morning after an amazing, exhilarating rock-climbing adventure. My first ever! Wow...words cannot do justice to that experience. I squealed with delight as I swung -- Peter Pan style -- in the air after climbing about 35 feet...twice! The activity was by far one of the best adventures I have experienced; it truly resonated with my heart and soul. I heard a few "she's good" comments as I climbed. Regardless of what my skill level was, though, I was feeling good in every fiber of my being about what I was doing. It was an experience of totally -- 100 percent -- being in the moment. The only focus being positioning hands and feet in the right spots to elevate to the next level. Like life! And, there was a full-of-life guide there, George, who helped me move on up those rocks after Jen, another adventurous ACE Adventure Center guide assisted me in rappelling 80 feet prior to the climb. One by one, each person in our climbing group stood at the top of a cliff, secured in harness, back towards the cliff and walked down the rocks to the spot where the helpful guides George and Amy were waiting to assist us with climbing. By the time we got to climbing, we would have already experienced the feeling of rappelling. Smart!

Once I made it to the peak of my first climb, George said: "Now, Penny, you can do what we call Peter Pan. It's guaranteed to drop 10 years off of your life. Turn your body and jump away from the rock," he instructed. Trusting George with the ropes he was holding beneath me, and after a few moments of mentally conditioning myself to just jump, I did! With a slight reservation, however, I didn't leap out as far as I could have to have received the full effect of the swing. However, the second time I climbed those rocks, I knew to give a good jump when it came time for the "Peter Pan" swing. The second time around, I just couldn't get enough of the swinging. George joked with me to save the rope for another climber; for my son, perhaps, since he was totally in the rock-climbing moment like his mom.

Three times Caleb rappelled 80 feet, twice he climbed the rocks with George as the guide -- followed by the Peter Pan Swing. Twice, another knowledgeable and fun guide, Amy, talked Caleb through climbing rocks that were 70 feet high. And to think that a couple of Caleb's successful climbs were after hiking a fairly good distance with me, uphill, to the porta potty.

When I compare rock-climbing to life in general, I think of how we have to firmly plant our feet and hands on just the right spots -- after some maneuvering, after some unexpected falls -- as a means of progressing and coming more and more into contact with our life's purpose. We try to elevate ourselves -- sometimes reaching that elevation on the first attempt and others times not quite so quickly. Along the way -- like that rock-climbing journey -- we reach a spot that is comfortable to pause and rest before continuing the challenge. Then, once we reach the next milestone of our destination we may choose to celebrate and swing like Peter Pan! But, when that rejuvenating, age-reducing swing is over, the actual journey is not. We must keep on climbing -- or rappelling in the case of rock-climbing -- which is yet another integral part of the overall journey. Whatever the case -- up or down -- down or up -- in life we're always really climbing -- no matter what direction we're actually going!

Keep on climbing! See you at the top!