HC Retreat (Pt. 2) - Rock Climbing

Rock Climbing

Rock Climbing was a tough experience for all of us, which demanded us to go beyond our extreme, not just the physical one, but more importantly, the mental one.

I was greatly impressed by Cherry’s performance on rock climbing and it just let me to think more about the topic of “EXTREME.”

What is my physical extreme? What is my psychological extreme? Can my extreme be extended infinitely? Should I do that? And what if I give up if I have reached my certain extreme?

When Cherry was climbing the rock, I could really feel that she had reached her physical extreme, exhausted with her tiny body compared to the big, huge, and grand “rock.” However, I could strongly sense her willingness to challenge her physical extreme and she was still far away from her psychological extreme. She was trying her best to climb to the top, using all of her energy. And in the end, she made it. SHE DID CLIMB TO THE TOP. I applauded for her from my heart and soul and was really proud of her.

I believe Cherry is a successful case demonstrating how to use one’s psychological strength to extend one’s physical extreme one step further and how the two extremes serve for each other and create some kind of miracle.

However, I am more concerned about how to find my extremes and how I should face a situation that we are sure something is not our TALENT and we have reached certain extreme of our talents and abilities. The key point is: should we give up and stop at the right moment, and turn to choose something else, which fits more our talents and capacities. That’s why I feel learn much from Mirror’s experience.

When Mirror was climbing, she did try so many times and I could see that she had used up all of her energy. However, she just kept on trying and trying, trying to maximize her physical extreme to a higher level. And after almost 30 min’s try, Mirror finally “gave up” and just came down. However, to me, it was just not “giving up,” it was more like a RAIONAL CHOICE.

In our life, we will all face such circumstances that we hesitate whether to give up something that we’ve been working for so long, however, every effort we put doesn’t pay off, especially when we are under some kind of external pressures to carry on. That’s the moment I strongly believe we should stop for a while and think for a while, to balance, to hesitate, and to make a decision. That’s why I appreciate Bill Gates so much, who is sure what he is capable of and interested in, and gave up his college life in Harvard halfway to fight for his Microsoft dream.

I am not saying that: when we are striking for something, when we can’t anything as positive feedback at the moment, we should give up right now. What I emphasize is that we should learn the philosophy of giving up and being rational. Save your time and energy and reserve them for something more worhwhile.