Not Being Afraid to Fall
Embracing life’s challenges.
I started obstacle training this week. Because, you know, Tough Mudder is only eight months away.
I went with my friend, Claire, to the dojo of one of our friends. One of us was nervous. The other one was me. I fully expected to fail at everything. It was my first night.
I didn’t get nervous until I saw how many people were in the building to witness me falling on every obstacle.
And then I took a deep breath and tried (and mostly failed) everything because I realized that the only one judging me was me.
I learned a lot from embracing the fact that I was a beginner. I learned that I need more core and lower body work and which arm muscles needed attention.
Tim was very patient and explained the nuance of each obstacle’s technique as we got to it. He gave us a chance to try everything a second time if we wanted to. So of course I tried (and mostly failed) each obstacle a second time.
I didn’t fail everything. The balance course I passed without major incident although it needs work. The cargo net was easy to get up, but I almost fell backwards getting off of it.
But my biggest win of the night was the warped wall. He pulled Claire and me aside and walked us through each step of getting up as high as you could and sliding back down until you were comfortable with falling. We worked higher and higher on the ten foot wall while everyone else ran taller ones and shouted encouragement.
I’m proud to say, Claire and I both made it up the wall. This is especially special to me because it was one of the obstacles that defeated me at Tough Mudder this year. My technique can use some work, but I have the basics down now.
Needles to say, I’m hooked and will be going back… tonight.
It was a good reminder that if I try something that I’m not comfortable with, I might fall, but I might fly.
Weekly Goals
Write 7K words: Fail. I let my attention get scattered with helping a friend instead of getting my words in. This week will be better.
Read one book: Fail, but in my defense, I’m reading a really thick book.
Go to class: Success. The next two months will be interesting because again my teacher is out of the country, but we’re still supposed to get together as a dojo to train.
Go to the gym twice: Success.
Sew ten dice bags: Success.
