Life’s Safety Rope

Having a good rope and using it properly is something you do when you climb.

Not because you sign a disclaimer at the climbing gym. Not because a regulation says you should.  But because it’s your life.

Obviously,  you want to act safely, whether climbing or just living your daily life. I bet you always fasten your seat belt before driving, even if your schedule is terribly busy, or you’re going through a crisis, or even if you are so depressed that life becomes flavourless.  It’s second nature to buckle up when you get in the car, and similarly, you tie that rope properly before climbing.

Climbers use ropes for a reason: when it gets too hard, they have something to fall back on. In French,  we say “prendre un vol” rather than “fall”.  “Prendre un vol” translates as “take a fly”. It’s something like the English “go flying”. In one sense, it looks like you’ve lost control. But if you look at the face of the climbing champion in this video, you’ll see a big smile at the moment of “son vol”. The sensation can be exhilarating, a feeling of complete freedom.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93vLLh5rAiM, starting on the video counter at 1:12:00. His flying moment comes at 1:16:40. )

Did you notice in that spectacular climb how many times he rests? When he stops moving forward, even when he hangs face down, he is resting his arm muscles.

The rope is there, making a fall look like flying. The same goes with health.

The thing is, we tend to forget that we have this safety back-up. So we often follow poor health practices in our daily life, not tying the rope well or not bothering to invest in a good quality rope.  Falling from poor health practices is generally a slow-motion process. So slow, in fact, that we may fool ourselves into believing we can ignore it.

Yet life goes on, one climb at a time. And it can be so much fun! Next time I’ll speak about health safety practices, the ones we should all prepare for our own care.

Stay tuned - we are actually getting to the top of this climbing story!

Sincèrement, et bonne santé!

Patricia