Finding a hobby

I've been trying my hand at indoor rock climbing lately, and it's pretty cool. I'm not very good. My friends say I'm all arms, and I take a really long time to get up simple walls, but I had a good experience with it so I might take it up. Last Saturday I tried a 5.9 level wall, which is higher than anything I've done before. I worked my way up painfully, relying too much on my arms and killing my strength. Then I hit this spot that I just couldn't get. There was this hold that was just a bumpy mound of plastic, and you had to pull urself up on it to reach the next footing. After 10 minutes of struggling, I just gave up. My friends let me down and gave me some encouraging words, but it was pretty disappointing. The first wall of the day is your best chance at surpassing your previous level, so I was getting left behind. My friends had already done the wall in about 8 minutes.. (Then some little asian girl did it after them equally fast...)

But I hit that sucker again. My bro's kept my rope tight and coached me up to the point where I had failed before. I stopped, looking down at them, gave the 'thumbs up,' and lept for that bumpy mound. I grabbed it well, but my foot slipped and I flew off. Bummer. I tried again, same deal. I just couldn't get it, and I sat there swinging in my harness looking dejected. There would be no giving up this time though, my friends were holding that rope patiently, telling me to go on. One of them said I wasn't getting a drive home if I didn't finish. So I just kept trying. It was a stroke of luck that I ever made it past that stupid hold. Even after that I still had struggles. But the main deal is my pals stuck it out with me for about 45 minutes on a wall that took them less than 10. They were proud of me, and I was couldn't have done it without them.

So I think I'm gonna take up rock climbing, see what happens.. Hopefully I'll get to the point where I don't get punked by little asian girls all the time.


This quote is for a friend... not really related to the above.
"Sociologists have a theory of the looking-glass self: you beome what the most important person in your life (wife, father, boss, etc.) thinks you are. How would my life change if I truly believed the Bible's astounding words about God's love for me, if I looked in the mirror and saw what God does?" Phillip Yancey, What's So Amazing about Grace