Heights are not my thing, I’d much rather have my feet planted firmly on the ground, nice and safe. But my son and husband like to climb, and I decided I would accompany them on a family day out climbing, with Andy Swann of Climb for Life. Andy was very calm and professional, taking his time to explain things clearly to me a and demonstrating the strength of the rope and the belay system. Nevertheless, I was still shaking when it was my turn, and in my usual way I climbed really fast up the wall, trying to get it done with as quickly as possible! I was fine until I got to a ledge where I had to reach over and grab the ledge on the opposite side. I froze, my heart hammering, and all I could think about was falling, about it all going wrong, about a stumble and a plummet. Everyone called encouragement, and I stopped to take slow deep breaths, reminding myself that if you stay calm then you can think, and if you can think properly then you can rationalise risk and fear more easily. After a few minutes I was able to reach over and haul myself up to the top, legs a bit wobbly, but still I had done it! I had looked at the top from the bottom and thought I couldn’t do it...but then I had looked at the bottom from the top and realised that I had in fact done it.
We can do anything!
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