Proud of the Balance

There's more to life than climbing.  It's true.  Some are willing to forego nearly all else for the singular pursuit of living a life on the rocks.  Some aren't.  None of us are right or wrong, we just make our choices and do the best we can with them.

As I sift through memories of the past few weeks: a very close call near-send of my project, watching old friends send their projects with their parents watching, seeing a climbing partner push through fears that would normally stop him, a friend and his wife announcing their pregnancy, witnessing my 16-year-old daughter handle adult situations with style and grace, my girlfriend sending her hardest route while simultaneously focusing on school harder than I focus on rock climbing, and the loss of my mother to cancer; I realize that my circle of friends is special.  Special in the sense that we all have diverse interests.  We all have many hobbies and passions.  While we all push ourselves in the gym all summer and winter so that we can climb hard in the spring and autumn, we also love to cook, to make music, to hunt, to work with wood, to paint, to bike, and to spend time with our families, friends, and each other.

I'm proud of this.  Sure, there are days when I envy the full-time climber lifestyle.  Responsibilities can take their toll.

But not only do we get to witness and experience powerful sends and epic failures, but we're privileged to be raising wonderful young adults and newborn babies, we build things, we create art, we craft extraordinary food, and we go to amazing places.

We love.

We lose.

We have each other.

You all know who you are.  Thanks for sitting on the other side of the teeter totter.