Slack Builds Character?

I climbed my very first 5.10 yesterday... booya! It's pretty exciting and definitely encourages me to keep focusing on becoming a better climber. You know, there are some things that I definitely consider to be my climbing strengths. Like I'm not afraid to use features on the wall and trust my feet to keep me from falling. I also really enjoy trying routes that I don't think I can do (and usually can't but you got to try!). And of course, I always have tons of fun :)

But, there are also definitely things I need to work on... for instance, overhanging routes are my nemesis and I need to become more comfortable on them. I also need to work on shifting my body weight to enhance balance, not being afraid to fall, not getting frustrated and losing focus, not giving up so easily. But the thing I maybe need to work on most is...

Being ok with more slack on the rope. Oh man. I hate slack on the rope. It makes you feel SO vulnerable to falling and failing. But, my boyfriend said it best yesterday... slack builds character. And the reality is that I need to be ok with it. Yes, that means if I fall, I'll fall further. Yes, that means it feels like there's no safety net between injury and success. And yes, that means it requires more trust in myself to do the moves required. Blah. It sucks! Haha. Well, it actually doesn't really suck on routes that I know I can do. It only sucks on routes that I get scared on and don't think I can do.

I guess it really boils down to risk... or at least the feeling of increased risk. And that can be scary. It really requires unconditional trust in yourself and in your safety net to succeed... even when you don't really believe in either. Sounds crazy! And it is. But I suppose its kind of like regular life too. Sometimes we have to trust when we don't believe. And when we do, we succeed or at least come out unscathed at the end.

And so I'll try to be ok with more slack. (But Jesse that does not mean you can give me lots of slack on purpose to try and "help" me with this!! :) Remember, building trust requires baby steps... or in my case baby slack...

In any case, 5.10's get ready to be conquered by yours truly. I'm climbing my way up... and yes, pun definitely intended :)