The Power Of Mistakes

I LEARNT A CRITICAL LESSON ON THE IMPORTANCE OF FAILING JUST RECENTLY. I THOUGHT I WOULD SHARE IT WITH YOU.

Overall, I consider myself a careful person. I consider my risks and always do my homework before pursuing anything new. I like to think that my efforts are well considered and managed appropriately. Recently I learnt a BIG lesson on how important it is to make mistakes.

Often times we like to stay where we are rather than take risks. Even my friends are always looking out for my “best interest” to make sure I don’t do anything too crazy. This last week I did something different. I TOOK A BIG RISK.

I’m a fairly experienced rock climber. Recently, I got the opportunity to climb a very easy beginners climb. Normally I would choose a path and decide exactly where to place every hand and foot on the rock. I could of course change my mind half way but I generally know fairly well how I am going to get up that wall. But, this time I did it differently. I decided to take a BIG risk.

Half way up, I was at the hardest point in the climb. Normally, I would feel around and see what I could confidently climb and keep moving. As I hung there I saw what I thought was a fairly decent hold. As I looked beyond, I saw another hold I KNEW I COULD NOT REACH. I don’t know what exactly was going on in my mind but I thought I would leap for the difficult hold instead. This would involve me jumping AND letting go of all my hand and foot holds. If I succeeded I would be hanging by one hand. If I failed I would fall.

By this stage I had been at the same spot for some time. I began to wonder “what am I thinking!”. I clinged on as I contemplated my choices. “OK”, I thought “Here goes”. With all my strength I let everything go and leapt of the higher hold….and fell. As I hung off the rope, I had the opportunity to see 3 EXTRA ROUTES, I COULD NOT SEE FROM THE GROUND OR FROM UP CLOSE. What’s more, the other options were EASIER to climb.

Here is what I learned that day

• Not all risks are deadly
• Sometimes falling lets you see other options
• So often we cling to where we are not realising there are better and easier options

What do you do when you face a new challenge?