The Only Way Is Up...

It's fair to say I haven't been myself lately. After seven months of traveling, I've actually been itching to get back to work and a routine. Crazy, I know...when I'm settled, I can't wait for the next adventure, and when I'm in limbo, I just want to stay put somewhere. Never happy, eh? Melbourne is a fantastic city- if blooming cold recently- but somehow it isn't quite the same without our friends here. People really do make a place. There was a poem I wrote sometime last year at one of my confused points that has somehow struck true with me once more this time around...

I thought I'd be quite witty
And write a little ditty
'Bout how I love this city,
'Bout how its parks are pretty,
Then I realized something gritty,
That a city is a city is a city-
What a pity.

Grim, eh? Too grim. This week, I decided I needed a serious change of attitude- worry is like a rocking chair, it will never get you anywhere (thanks to my great friend Miss Emma Ford for that quotation!). If there's one thing I've learned since traveling, it's that nothing shakes me up more than trying something new. So on Tuesday night, we took up the kind offer of Patrick's boss Nick and his wife Wendy to join them for one of their favourite past-times- rock climbing.
   I'm not going to lie- for half an hour before, and for the first hour climbing, I was bloody terrified. Of course, my fear was completely irrational; we were in an indoor climbing gym, not on the side of a mountain. The very enthusiastic Steve made it quite clear I'd be safe, after a quick lesson on 'be-laying' (keeping your partner safe from the ground by holding the rope's other end and making sure it is taut at all times). I soon got used to the hand rhythm for working the ropes- up, down, left, right, up, down, left, right, up up up 'cos Patrick went further than I thought.....down, left, right. Maybe I'd actually be alright at this climbing lark? Then it was my turn to actually climb- oooooh dear. So, here's how my first 3 climbs went... I'd rush up like a crazed monkey, freeze about 3 metres up, then freak and squeak to Patrick 'I want to come down now!'. Oh, when Patrick gave me the be-layers 'go-ahead', leaping off the wall backwards like it was fire, out of breath with fear and relief when I hit safe ground. Tragic, but all true, I'm afraid. But, after some useful instruction from Patrick (who proved he was a natural at climbing after mastering some tricky climbing walls) and the assurance that there was no way he'd let me fall, I actually made it to the top fourth time around without wimping out halfway! Success! All I kept thinking at the beginning was 'I am NOT coming back, I am NOT coming back', but by the end I realized- as with most fears- it was all in the mind. I actually ended the session with a smile on my face- which Steve seemed happy about- and keen to try again next week. The delicious lamb souvlaki pizza and cold Coopers beer enjoyed with Nick and Wendy's friends afterwards may also have worked as positive reinforcement! If I went from quivering flop to reaching the top in two hours, hopefully I can improve even more next week- although maybe I shouldn't talk too soon. Stay tuned, folks!
    So, lessons to be learned from this confession/experience?

1) When you're feeling frustrated and impatient, keep your body- and mind- busy. Exercise. Read. Don't allow time for a grey cloud of negative thoughts to accumulate over your head.
2) If you're feeling stale, anxious or just in need of a change, try something different. Allow somebody you love and trust to gently push you into something new once in a while, even if you're stubborn like me and convinced you won't like it. It's likely you'll be pleasantly surprised. Overcoming a challenge is far more rewarding than continuing on a well-trodden track; I'm sure there's a philosopher out there who's put it into words far more eloquently than I have.
3) Fear is all in the mind; you're the only person that can ever get over it. No-one's going to come along and do it for you. They can encourage you, but you have to take that first step.
4) It's pretty difficult to hurt yourself while rock climbing (in a climbing gym, anyway), unless you deliberately try to do so. Just repeat the mantra: you are in a harness, you are in a harness. You are not about to fall into an abyss.
5) Charity shops have more inter-house politics than first imagined. OK, so that's completely irrelevant- but just a little extra thing I've learned.
  
  This is all very nice, but aren't you in Fiji yet? I hear you cry. Errr....no. Long story. BUT Patrick's flight to London and back to Fiji has been booked, my return flight from London to Fiji has been booked, both in August, so it's all beginning to happen....slowly. It's taken me a while, but I've learned to keep happy, keep smiling, keep positive, be patient, and embrace the slow pace of life at the moment. Slow and steady wins the race, etc etc. How many philosophical cliches can I fit into one blog post? One more, it would seem- which brings us nicely to the sixth and final lesson, from none other than the legendary philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau...

6) Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.