Try Hard

“As I look back on today, what did I do that was actually worth my time?” Susan David. Emotional Agility.

Forty years ago, during that pensive phase that all young people go through I used to copy out quotes from books onto scraps of paper and into various note-books (no-one had personal computers back then – I don’t think PC’s had even been invented). Over time, I stopped the practice thinking, with the hubris of all humanity, that I would remember the quote; plus, all those notebooks and scraps of paper got lost somewhere along the way, moving from one place to another or the scraps of paper got glanced at and tossed into the bin thinking “why did I think that quote was so enlightening?’

Last night, as I lay reading in bed, I turned back the page of the book thinking, I must remember that quote, and so, I present it here for your consideration. Did you do something today that was worth your time? I had a fantastic day out climbing and I feel like just about every thing I did today was worth my time, from meditating in the morning, to pumping out on a hard route, right through to cooking fish and potatoes for dinner.

From this mornings walk

Like all rock climbers, I am perennially discontented. Is there a single rock climber out there who does not go out climbing with big dreams of sending hard but making the send look effortless? I don’t think so. As recently as a couple of weeks ago, I would go out with this tick list of must climb routes for the day that I must climb in perfect style and my chattering mind would run along like a Jack Russel chasing a ferret all day driving me batty with do this, don’t do that lists of tactics and strategies. “Don’t clip early,” “don’t overgrip,” “try not to bump your feet up,” “rock on and transfer your weight.” It was endless, exhausting, and I could never live up to all the regulations I had boxed around the climbs. Falling off, rather than being a symbol of trying hard became another marker of failure.

Another from this morning, infrequently seen here

One morning, it suddenly occurred to me that all I really needed to do to have a successful day was try hard. I might muff up a sequence, I might fumble a clip, I might fall off, but if I tried hard, the climb and the day was a success. When you disengage yourself from achieving a certain predetermined outcome, and just focus on trying hard – at whatever you are doing – looking back on the day and finding at least one thing that was worth your time is almost guaranteed.