Rock Climbing

Have you ever been rock climbing? I love it and hate it all at the same time.

Without a fail every time I climb, I get about 3/4 of the way through and then wonder why the heck I decided to climb in the first place. I think, "I am not a big fan of heights! What am I doing on this wall? " And then I get tired and start to psyche myself out. Just when I think I want to quit, I hear the voice of a friend below. A friend that can see that if I just reached my fingers a little further and pushed up with my legs, I would reach the next grove easily. I can't see it because of my vantage point on the wall. But my friend can. And without the encouragement I probably wouldn't make it. But because I hear the voice telling me I can make it, I press on.

My friend, Andie has been struggling as of late and all I can do is try to be that voice below cheering her on. Andie and I met working on events for a non-profit. Although Andie lived a charmed life in a nearby small college town where she worked for the college 's development office.

Wanting something more from her life but not sure what, although admittedly there was the hope of being with a guy somewhere in the mix, Andie decided to take a job with the non-profit and move away from the comfortable life she lived. The grass looked greener and so Andie decided she wanted it.

A year has passed and Andie, happy Andie, is miserable beyond comprehension. You name an aspect of her life and I could tell you why it isn't going well.
The transition has been harder than she thought and it is weighing on her to the point where she wants to quit. As we talked this week, I gave her this advice:

Sometimes we leave our comfort zones only to find out that the new opportunity isn't that comfortable. But that doesn't necessarily mean that the grass isn't greener. That doesn't mean we should stop climbing the rock. I mean let's face it, if Andie went back to her old life, it wouldn't be the same. Life moves on without us...things change...a tree falls in the forest even if we aren't there to see it (you get the picture).

And sometimes we need a challenge to snap us out of an unchallenging life. Andie was coasting at her old job. She wasn't challenged, didn't have deadlines, and ruled to roost. There was nothing in her life enabling her to reach new heights. There was so much untapped potential.

Andie is so close to conquering these challenges. And aren't we all? So often we wonder if we can make it through, but that is because we are in it and can't see things clearly. We can't see that we are so close to reaching the next groove. All we need is a little faith and a voice telling us that we are so close as long as we just hang on.

-RXW