I find it hard to take compliments, so when someone tells me I’ve improved in climbing I just think they’re simply being polite, and I don’t actually believe them. I’ve posted about trying hard and noticing your improvements previously, you can read that here, so I feel that this is nice update on how I’m getting on. Got to practice what you preach!

Last week I was bouldering at my local wall, just wandering around chatting, and casually trying a few problems. The gym was quiet, there were about 5 or 6 people floating around, (not literally as that would kind of take the fun out of climbing) but it was a nice, chilled atmosphere.
I meandered over to my friends, as they pondered and messed about on a problem they were setting I decided to try a climb nearby. I’d previously had a few attempts at this but not completed it. Somehow I managed to get up the problem easily and as I was a couple of moves away from the finish, I unexpectedly noticed the normal chatter and background noise had stopped…which meant people were watching…they’re watching me climb…this is weird…oh hey gravity!

Previously I would have got anxious of people watching me and mostly likely just jump off. However, as gravity dragged my butt to the matting I realised that I wasn’t bothered I had fallen, because it was just the result of me actually trying to make the move.
It was nice that my friends watched me really put effort in, and I guess their silence was a mixture of their surprise, and not wanting to spook me! That was the moment that reinforced my acknowledgment of my progress, well that and the fist bumps. I don’t think they had really seen me push like that before.

It made the session rewarding as for the first time I realised I had gained some confidence, and made some improvements.

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