I am a climber

Today we strive for something unattainable by most and undesirable by many yet we push and grow through these experiences of triumph and desperation. Organizing gear, looking up at the task at hand, enjoying each others company and the ground hoping to see it again but not fully realizing the magnitude. Clasping hands with God, move by move, singing songs of redemption and finding the core of our strength deep within to press forward. Find a hand, find a foot, move, stop sitting, push, tears. I'm scared. The tower, grace and guidance. Friendship understanding and trust... trust... "you got me?"..."TAKE"... he's got you... stand up, move a foot, a hand, please hold. Mentally overcoming yourself, your worst fears and everything you can't face. Time stops and thoughts rush through your head; a roaring river that desperately needs to be tamed, you can't think like that now, just you and the rock. Shallow breaths of fear, anxiety and adrenaline catching your throat. As your chest moves in and out you fear your body getting too far away from the rock and panic finds comfort deep within you. The rock; your best friend and worst enemy. The tower... a majestic beauty beheld through the scope of climbers eyes. What if my gear fails? What if my rope fails?... What if I fail? "Tell me your not going to let anything happen to me." Songs cascade through my head like the music of an epic adventure: "I... I feel so alive... so alive... for the very first time... for the very first time." I've made it and my heart exclaims and I burst with tears running down my face, shaking body I couldn't help but cry, I cried for my accomplishment, I cried because I had made it, I cried because I was worth it, strong, powerful, and me, I cried and let go my fear. The tips of the mountains, the view of indescribable beauty within my grasp. Sitting with my best friend waving to a loved one (our biggest fan) down below and becoming another piece of some tourists scrapbooks but they do not have my memory and the inner peace i feel over accomplishing something so surprising to me. Day light falls and moonlight settles in. Efficiency in repelling; I'm grateful he knows what to do. Moonlight traces round my body, silhouette reflected on stone. "Buffalo soldier, dreadlock rasta...woy yoy yoy, woy yoy-yoy yoy, woy yoy yoy yoy, yoy yoy-yoy yoy." Repel, set anchor, repel, set anchor repel... ground. Relief, carrying packs, photographs of nostalgia. Freeing tape from our hands soaking in the dinner of the stiff and sore. Today I am a climber, this is what climbing is to me, I have been climbing a little under a year and am still considered new to this world, I started for reasons arbitrary to the feeling I am experiencing now but today has made me a climber.