Climbing rocks. I’ve learned a lot of figurative and literal things about life through climbing. I was reminded of this today when some dude at the gym looked at me and said, “That’s a shitty problem, but I admire your perseverance.” He said this after he watched me fall off the wall for the forth time, trying to make one move on one problem.

I didn’t know whether to say thank you or laugh, so I did both. Whether it be real world problems like figuring out where you’re going to live in the fall before school starts, or trying to send your first v5 climb, shit’s going to happen. Climbing reminds me that some problems will be easy, and some are going to suck, but regardless, you’re going to have to figure them out. And you can bet that without perseverance and the art of hanging in there, you’ll be staring at a wall (or the wall) clueless.

Climbing has taught me that sometimes the solution to a problem is simple. We spend so much time overanalyzing the issues presented before us that we forget that bandaid solutions can be as effective as super glue. I have noticed that in this day and age, there is a common tendency to over exaggerate problems. When we whine about them to our peers, we inflate their importance. Inflation by default causes intimidation. If you make it out to be this huge deal in your head, it’s going to scare you and cause you unnecessary stress. My favorite example of this is finals week. It gets blown out of proportion every year. Finals, though manageable and do-able, cause so much stress that my mind shuts down before I get any work done.

Whenever this happens, climbing reminds me that I cannot shut down and just give up completely. After climbing for a while, your arms and muscles get fatigued. You reach a point of physical exhaustion which prevents you from holding on any longer. You let go and walk away. But, unless the setters took the problem down, you can come back and try again tomorrow. Like they say, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” Sometimes, it takes more than a few days to figure things out. The bandaid easy solution may not be the answer, and that’s okay too (but if it is, keep it simple stupid and run with it). Perseverance is a huge component in this. Being fearless enough to fall off the wall and climb back up is how the sport of climbing embodies and teaches traits of courage and perseverance.

What climbing has transferred most into my life is the importance of celebrating little victories. It does not matter if you’re climbing alone, or with friends, or you’re just surrounded by fellow gym-goers, someone’s gotta celebrate the fact that you made it to the top of that climb. People in the climbing community (like the guy at the beginning of my story) love seeing progress, and whether you know it or not, they’re rooting for you. When I sent my first v5 today, that same guy who admired my perseverance was the first to congratulate me. It reiterated to me that you can conquer any problem that has stood in your way for days, weeks, or months, one move at a time. Put chalk on your hands, get on the rock, and rock on.