Why I don’t try new things

Magda Lea
Magda Lea
Aug 23, 2017 · 3 min read
My bouldering shoes.

Chalk, sweat, and tears. Some days, that’s the scent of sweet victory. Most days, though, it’s the smell of so much failure.

You see, friends, I’ve started bouldering. That’s rock climbing without bothering about ropes and harnesses and whatnot; it’s just you and a 14-foot wall.

I’ll let you in on a secret: I don’t try new things. I’m the girl who buys hot new glasses and continues wearing the old wiry ones to work. I only drive small blue Hondas. My hairstyle has stayed more or less the same since I grew out my bangs at age 5.

Here’s another secret: I’m not really athletic. I spend 7.5 hours a day at a desk job and am content to take the stairs instead of the elevator and call it exercise.

So when I started dating one of the world’s biggest nerds and found out he happened to like rock climbing as much as video games and math problems, something possessed me to try it. Maybe I wanted to impress him.

He invited me to an indoor bouldering gym some months ago and helped me pick out a pair of rental shoes. I was pumped, but crazy scared. The cement warehouse was full of athletic people with name brands on their clothes. I was dressed in an old camp t-shirt and baggy pants. Cause I don’t exercise.

My super nerd picked out an easy climb for me and I shakily pulled myself up on the first few holds.

When I got about four feet off the ground, panic struck. For it was then that I realized it’s just you and the 14-foot wall on the way down, too. No rope. No stairs. At that moment, literally four feet above giant chalk-covered mats, I developed a paralyzing fear of heights. Because that’s what happens when I try new things.

People around me were hanging upside-down on two fingers and their ankles, and I was on the easiest climb in the gym, freaking out because there was no way I could climb down four feet without a harness.

After a very long five minutes, I gained the courage to jump off the wall and found myself on a mat, safe and covered in chalk and sweat. I learned a few important things:

  1. Four feet are not that high.
  2. There are better ways to impress a new boyfriend.
  3. You don’t taste sweet victory until you’ve tasted failure.

The easiest climbs are labelled V0. I’m around a V2 level now, wearing my own rock shoes, chalking up my hands, and smiling down from the top of a 14-foot wall.

I’m nowhere near as cool as the V8 or V9 climbers. I still chicken out at times. Once I fumbled so bad I came crashing down on my ankle, spraining it and hobbling like a granny for weeks. But you know what? Injuries from extreme sports are totally bragging material.

I stepped completely out of my comfort zone and found it worth it. So go out and try new things. Fail sometimes. Aim for sweet victory.

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Magda Lea

Written by

Magda Lea

Writer / Photographer / Road trip addict / Introvert

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