Lean Into Discomfort to Grow
Over the weekend, I went on adventure to the White Mountains. I joined a group of amazing humans to hike to Arethusa Falls for a high ropes course thanks to Jake of Jake’s Gym in Concord, NH. As usual, I arrived solo only to meet some seriously awesome people who love adrenaline and outdoor adventures as much as I do!
The minute we stepped onto the trail, I felt at home. Being in nature, especially in the woods, puts me at ease. I feel calm. I feel confident. I can let my hair down and get dirty and sweat and be stinky and it’s awesome! And I am always reminded that I am like a speck of sand in this giant Universe that we call home.
After hiking for about 45 minutes, we arrived to Arethusa Falls. The sun was shining, it was an absolutely beautiful day, and there were lots of people playing in the falls to cool off. This was my kind of place!
We had a chance to rest for a bit and grab a snack and then, after our fearless leader and his team demonstrated what we would be doing, myself and the group grabbed our packs and up we hiked to the top of the falls.
Upon arrival, we put on our helmets and harnesses and were debriefed on next steps. Then one by one, off we went on a tyrolean traverse (think zipline!) across the top of the falls!
YESSSSS!!!! This is the stuff I live for!
As I traversed across, head up looking at the blue sky above and then turning my head mid way to look down at the falls and the crowd below, I yelled out loud “THIS IS AWESOME!” Because, my God…it was!
Once we all made our way across, we trekked back across on foot a bit further up away from the top of the falls and then made our way down through the woods to our take off point for our next adventure…rappelling down the falls.
The only thing I had ever rappelled down before that moment was a small rock wall in an indoor rock climbing gym years ago. Not even close to what I was staring down at in that moment, but I reminded myself to breathe, to focus, and to remain calm so I could fully experience this adventure and not blackout from fear.
When it was my turn, I was hooked into the safety line and then the ropes to rappel down. In the moment, as I started stepping back and reversing my body down the incline to the edge, much to my surprise, I didn’t feel nervous or scared. I felt excited and focused. I was focused on the ropes and how they felt in my hands. I was focused on my breath as it moved in and out of my body. I was focused on taking it all in, this amazing experience.
Despite the fact that rappelling down a waterfall, or anything for that matter, requires you to do go against everything your body wants to do and your mind tells you to do, I did it anyway.
Naturally, my body wanted to lean forward close to the rock as if I could just hang on and somehow Spiderman my way down the side of a shear rock face with my hands. Instead, I needed to lean way back in my harness so that the soles of my feet were ideally flat on the rock face before me.
Naturally, when I arrived at the edge and was about to go over and down, my instinct told me no, go back up. Instead, I said no, and kept reversing backward until there I went, over the edge and down.
When I first got clipped in and had slack in the line, naturally my mind was telling me that with all that slack I would just fall backward and fast. But I told my mind no. I kept going and trusted the process.
As I rappelled down the falls, I felt strong. I felt confident. I felt grateful. My adrenaline was rushing and the view of the falls was like none other. It was amazing to feel my feet land at the bottom, the Earth below me, and think WOW… How awesome is it that we as humans can do this - rappel down shear rock faces with control and feel safe and secured and experience nature in a way that is SO FREAKIN AWESOME!
I loved it so much I went back up for a second run and all I kept thinking was that I wanted to go up higher and rappel down for longer!
In this life, there are times that we need to trust the process, lean into the discomfort, and go against what our mind, our limiting beliefs, and the stories we have written are telling us. We need to push ourselves “over the edge” and know we will be guided, believe that we will land on our feet having grown stronger, and have faith that the journey is leading us to exactly where we are meant to be.
What is one thing in your life that you are resisting because your mind is telling you you can’t? What is one area of your life that you want to grow in, but find yourself afraid to push knowing there will be discomfort?
Today is the day to call it out, to acknowledge it, and to own it. And today is YOUR day to do it anyway. Today is your day to push. Today is THE day to know that you are capable of absolutely anything…YOU ARE LIMITLESS.
Believe in yourself, have faith, and push yourself over your edge…and don’t forget to celebrate your progress and take in the beautiful views along the way.