2020 has taught me a lot of lessons as I am sure it has to you as well this year. One of which is who routine and monotonous our lives tend to be as we grow up towards adulthood. Conversely living with two small kids under 5 years old has shown me how many new and exciting things they are willing to try. Sometimes they excel some times they fall flat on their face, scuff up a knee, cry about it and then try again and again and again until they finally get it. When was the last time you put that much effort or for that matter any real effort in trying something new?
If you’re over the age of 25 it may not be 100% your fault some studies have shown that your brain starts to get lazy around your mid-twenties. It seems like at that point our brain is a little more concerned with efficient transmission of learned data and less about filling up the memory bank. But that doesn’t mean you’re stuck with the things that you learned or should have learned in the first third or so of our lives. Many studies are showing results that keeping your mind active and learning new skills throughout your adult life will keep your mental faculties sharp well into your golden years. Games like bridge, sudoku, and chess all have been toted as heavy hitters but I’d like to offer up a new favorite hobby of mine. It’s a lot more physical than those previous options but I can promise you it’s just as big of a mental challenge to learn and master.
https://www.businessinsider.com/our-brains-can-get-lazy-by-age-25-but-you-can-counteract-it-2017-11
Bouldering aka Climbing
When I showed up to the climbing gym on their opening night I was green, to say the least, I had watched dawn wall and free solo but that was the extent of my climbing knowledge. I showed up with a smile on my face a humble attitude and a willingness to learn and I’ve progressed quite well over the past three months. I’ve gained friends, taught my son a new skill set, and had an amazing time throughout all of it. I’ve fallen down too many times to count, kicked a boulder with my shin, and got a cool new scar, and been humbled by routes more times than I would like to admit but I keep coming back for more. Together my son and I are stronger physically, calmer under pressure, and most importantly better at solving elaborate puzzles while trying to stay on a wall 8-10 feet off the ground. If you can stay calm cool and collected under those conditions imagine how easy it will be to solve a problem with both of your feet planted firmly on the ground. I would be remiss if I didn’t note that taking a boy under the age of 5 years old has a ton of benefits for their physical strength, mental focus, and overall confidence but we have noticed this one side effect, everything in your house will turn into something that can/should be climbed so pay attention.
Call to action.
If there’s a gym close to where you live and you have the physical ability to go out and give it a try I cant not recommend it enough, In fact, you should take the entire family. From my experiences, the gym staff and fellow climbers are a friendly bunch of people that want you to learn and have a great and most importantly safe time. People will be glad to give you pointers and with a magnitude of climbing routes for all abilities, everybody in your group is sure to find something that is a challenge.
If you answered no to both of the above that’s fine as well. Climbing all though fun was just my muse for this post the more important thing I want us to take away is to get out there and try something new, get out there and just be bad at something but keep coming back until you get better. I know there are plenty of things in my life where when the going got tough, the tough just moved back towards the things that I was already pretty good at. What good are we doing ourselves when we continue to stay in our comfort zone and refuse to challenge ourselves to stay the course no matter how long and arduous it may be to become proficient in a new task.
Take a little time over the next week or so and think about something that you’ve always wanted to learn how to do and go make it happen. There are more resources and access to friendly people out there on the web that would love to help you get started, so what are you waiting for? Go out there and be horrible but stay the course, I can’t wait to see some horrible paintings and pictures of burnt meals over the coming weeks.
Subjects to change 