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determination in her eyes

It was a hot Sunday afternoon, at least for the better first two hours when I was rock climbing. I reckon it was probably hitting close to 33 degrees. It was seriously hot! And there I was harness strapped around my thighs and waist with my two bare hands holding on to the rope. I was belaying a first-time rock climber. Belaying is a pretty interesting task during a rock climbing session especially when the life of the climber literally rests in your hands.

This first-timer was different this time around. She didn't make it the first try, she tried the second time, third time and by the fifth time she decided to come down to take a break before going at it one more time. So as she was panting, whilst trying to recover her strength before going at the climb route again, I gave a few pointers as to how to place her feet and hands to get a proper foothold to push herself up. What I saw, was something quite different from other people I notice.

She kept insisting on trying the route up. I may not have rock climbed for long but I have climbed long enough to know a tired climber when I see one. I could at least tell her fingers were simply too tired and incapable of grappling the stones. Her legs were probably tiring out seeing that she could no longer grip the rocks with her toes well. Before she could pass the first level of rocks she slipped and fell. That went on for another 45 minutes or so but she kept on pushing on.

As she got tired, she took more frequent breaks in between but kept on trying until she was completely exhausted. So tired that the following day she found it difficult to grip stuff with her fingers.

But throughout the climb, I saw one very important point in her - determination. There was pure determination in her eyes. It was the sort of look she that told me she didn't want to lose to a bunch of static rocks and that she was challenging herself. Determination is something hard to come by as many have rather comfortable upbringing in this day and time when parents don't wish for their kids to suffer like they did. Sadly, the protective approach has eroded the current generation from standing on their own two feet and going all out to reach out for what is worth it.

It was the determination in her eyes that has give me a push to work out more to better my rock climbing and everything else that I do.........

P.S. this post is way overdue when it was intended to be posted on the 18th of August 2010... but here goes.....

Comments

  1. MeeiSeptember 5, 2010 at 1:32 AM

    "the protective approach has eroded the current generation from standing on their own two feet and going all out to reach out for what is worth it"

    I must agree with you on this!

    ReplyDelete

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