This Week’s Adventures
Chattanooga baby!! Did not end up sleeping on the side of the highway like the adventures from 2 weeks ago. No, sir. This weekend we slept on a grassy field next to a truck stop. Luxury. Yeah, you heard me. A grassy field. Those cement lots where all the truck drivers park? Yeah. There was a field there and we set up our tents and slept. Moving up in the world.
The roommates and I did some climbing in Chattanooga at the infamous T-Wall. Apparently, it’s ‘world class’. And let me tell you, that was awesome. I’ve been really trying to shift my perspective from enjoyment based on how well I did, to how much I improved. I had a good friend describe the enjoyment you get from doing well as a “Shallow well to pool from”. If you’re only happy with the day’s climb if you did well, you’re going to burn out reaallll quick. Instead, the enjoyment should come from the process and the acknowledgment that over time you will be better.
This statement resonated incredibly well for me in terms of climbing. I’m trying to apply it to other aspects of life as well. Focus more on enjoying the process and not being so enthralled with the outcome.
Alas, I was happy with the progress I made this weekend. I lead another 5.9 on gear, and it was largely a crack climb – Pissed me off, but I got better. Hard to be upset if you improve at something.
The perspective shift echoes a sentiment from the book Green Lights by Matthew McConaughey. “Be less impressed and more involved”. Oh, so juicy. A healthy reminder
A Quote That’s Quite Apropos
"You should be far more concerned with your current trajectory than with your current results"
- James Clear
This quote is god-tier. It’s literally so juicy. Senior year of college I almost quit a sport that I’d been doing since I was a toddler. I didn’t enjoy it anymore and the term ‘frustrated’ doesn’t even begin to describe the feelings I was having at the time. One Saturday I read this quote by James Clear. I still didn’t finish the sport how I wanted to, but I am incredibly glad I saw it through to the end. It taught me things that very few corners of life would have been able to shed light on. I came out the other side, in shambles, but I made it through, and in part I owe it to this quote.
A Juicy Article
The title pretty much describes itself. This article… *mwuah*
Get rid of yo anxiety, as directed by science
Every inhale we take activates our sympathetic nervous system while every exhale activates our parasympathetic nervous system.
In other words breathing in, at the lowest level, raises our heart rate and activates our nerves while exhaling relaxes us and calms us down.
So if you’re freaking the fuck out, the age-old adage “Just breathe” actually has some merit. The trick is to have your exhales last longer than your inhales. The reverse is why when we panic we take short, quick breaths. Those short quick breaths in turn cause us to go into fight or flight. It’s a Catch-22. We can hack the cycle by forcing ourselves to slow our breathing, but that’s damn near impossible. Instead? Hold your breath. That’s what James Nester says. If you have control and time, there are other breathing techniques that work well.
Great explanation by Dr. Andrew Huberman. He gives great advice on all of his socials as well.
What Is This ‘Newsletter’?
Apparently, people care (mostly just my mom) so this newsletter serves to ensure I can stay more involved with people in my life. The hope is if I’m able to share bits and pieces of my life, other people will share theirs, and the result will be a far more interconnected community. So if you would like to hear more (or less), just ask! If there’s something that strikes a chord, let me know! If you want to see more or less of something, let me know!
The other piece of this newsletter will be to share interesting podcasts, songs, facts, or other pieces of information that had an impact on me in the hopes that they’ll be interesting or useful to someone else out there!
Also, I would love to hear from you so please respond and send some pictures!
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