ladyscarlett i haven't been climbing for 30 years, im a complete newbie (11 weeks and counting) but if you permit, i feel i have something to share.

I am 30 years old. I have a mortgage but no kids and no steady partner. So i have one big responsiblity only (the house). 5 years ago I was in a good job with good career prospects so I decided to buy a house and just work work work work work to try and clear the mortgage by the time i was 40 so i would have the rest of my life without burden.



Unfortuantely a good friends dad died not too long back. Its very sad to say but as he looked into his dads casket he just couldn't see the point of it anymore. All the years working to get a roof over your head, to end up in a casket only really having a few years of your life to yourself. It's not that he didn't respect all his dad had done and provided for him. HE jsut understood there and then that he was not going to live his life under the 9-5 grind, working to make somebody else rich all for the carrot of 4 weeks (Woohoo) vacation a year.

So he started to speak about this feeling and he was shocked to find a lot of people we knew had or were int he process of reaching the same feeling. 8 of our mates have givne up their fancy city jobs, sold all their posessions and are now travelling the world. Who knows what they will end up doing later in life, they may return to work, they may find oppertunities on their tradvels and build business and lifes for themselves.

Myself... I would have loved to gone with them but I have the shackle of the mortgage and the housing market here isn't good.

So alas I could not go. But I decided to give up the fancy high paid job with the rubbish work to life balance. I'm currently not working, I have money in the bank to keep the bills paid for half a year. I've taken up rock climbing (well indoor bouldering but we all need to start somewhere right) and have my first outdoors climb shceduled for Friday this week with a couple more friends who didnt go travelling but also gave up their jobs.

The reality is, there is not enough hours in the day to do everything we would want to do. Most people get trapped in their reality. A job, paying the bills, early to bed and family responsbility.

For me, I gave up the fancy job and fancy car. I've given up certain vices like online poker. I am using the time now available to me to develop certain interests and also investigating business operrtunities for myself. If i run out of moeny i will go back to work, a low responsiblity, low wage but more importantly a time flexible job. And i will do that until my business plans come to fruition. Location independant with residual income.

It's a daunting prospect giving up what society or your family expects of you. There will be people who shout at you, people who mock you. But they are not you. We all in life need to figure out what makes us happoy and what we want from life. The blanks... the job, the bills, the resposibilities etc.. they can all be tailored to suit whatever it is you find that makes you happy.

I absolutely hate this current #YOLO theme running through the kids today. They probably don't understand life, and its implications. But there is a shred of truth in that there YOLO thing.

It doesn't sound like you want to give up on climbing. But whether you call them excuses or realities, your current situation is not condusive to have the time for rock climbing by the sounds of it. So what you need is time. The question you should really ask yourself, and the question that only you can answer, is are you prepeared to give up something to enable you to go rock climbing, or are you prepared to give up rock climbing.

That doesn't neccessarily mean giving up your job, but what expenses can be cut to allow you to work less / for less and bring climbing back into your life. If that is what you want.

What is YOLO

It's been a while since I came back to the kiddie pool, but here I am, back. Where somehow, it's comfortable to rant and rail about problems the masters, mentors, and accomplished old 'rope muskets' have solved before they learned to kiss.

So it's been a while since I've climbed. This, of course, is all my own fault. I could make the time, even though my work hours have tripled in the past 2 weeks, taking over this month of prime climbing time. Even though, even though...these are all realities, yet in my head, they are excuses.

'I'm working to put gas in my car for my next trip...'
'I'm earning money to get that new piece that is mandatory for climbing...

It all sounds so hollow in my head, even though I recognize the rational truth of it.

I want to go climbing, and I constantly feel that because I don't just balls up and do it, I must not want it enough. Thus, maybe I should give up this climbing thing cause I must obviously be a poser. I'm not a climber, my rack isn't hard earned, it's just stupid. It's time to give it up.

And the doubt roars louder, with each passing day of beautiful climbing weather, each summit picture I see, each TR I read. Of course, I can't stop checking the weather, or reading the death out of forums, and drooling over picture intensive TRs.

I've only been climbing for 5 years! How do those, climbing for 30+ years weather the frustration of dealing with realities that may keep (even if just temporarily) one from getting relief from this urge, this compulsion, this...addiction to the rock.

I can't climb...wah wah wah, if I were a real climber I would just STFU and go climb something already. But I can't...and its doing a number on my weary brainmeats. This duration of frustration is wearing on the mind, if only I could get over it.

If only I could let it go..

If only I could give it up...


Thanks for reading,

Cheers

LS