Should…

 I should be able to do this.

I should’ve tried instead of chickening out. 

I should have the strength for that route. 

Expectations often determine the fortitude of our mental state during performance. As a dreamer and planner I have many expectations. Sometimes big goals make smaller achievements seem relatively easy, yet they are still great challenges! 

The word “should” became a major part of my performance vocabulary. All the training I put in SHOULD immediately translate to results, right? 

Reality’s answer resounded as a firm “NO!”. Of course, life is unpredictable, and so is climbing. A phase of frustration followed and (later) a scary brush with burnout. I needed climbing to motivate me to progress at something… anything. A way to improve who I am… even if it’s just climbing rocks. I’ve learned how to turn what knowledge I’ve gained to other parts of my life, and (when properly applied) to be a better person. Burnout was a terrifying idea…

But to stay my motivated I needed to let go of the “shoulds”… allow the expectations slip away. 

I needed to just enjoy climbing freakin’ rocks!