The way of the wall

"Hitting the wall" is a common expression in sport. In running, basketball and other sports that require endurance, it signifies an inability to proceed at peak performance, and problems with breathing and muscle control.

But hitting the wall is gaining a new definition among athletes. The vertical ballet of wall climbing has become a new testing ground for anyone brave enough to try it, because it introduces a person to himself, even at a very young age. In the Asian Junior X-Games, Filipinos do very well. The last competition in Thailand saw three Filipino entries, and all of them placed.

What is it that is simultaneously so daunting and exciting about climbing a wall? Typically, city dwellers like us are afraid of heights. The only time we usually leave the ground is in an elevator. This is why pole- and wall- climbing is a staple of corporate training. You have nobody else to rely on, and you’re literally out there on your own.

In my experience in herding children to weekly wall climbing sessions at Joey Cuerdo’s Power Up gym in Quezon City, I’ve learned many things. One young boy climbed up the first two walls of the facility, paused, realized what he had accomplished, then blurted out "You know, I’m afraid of heights." Apparently not anymore.

Personally, I hated it. It wasn’t my forte, not my sport. I didn’t enjoy it, until I realized why.

Sports are absolute. You can’t cheat. You reap what you sow; you harvest what you put in. There’s no way around it. My youngest son, Daniel badly wanted to conquer the highest levels, the ones with an overhang, where you’re dangling upside down and need to hook your foot onto a hold above you to clamber over it.

One day, when a classmate came to the house during one of his weekly training, Daniel didn’t feel like going. He wanted to play. We asked him point blank "What do you REALLY want?" He said he wanted to conquer the sixth and seventh levels. He knew that he needed to invest the time and effort to maintain his endurance. Or else, he’d slide back down a couple of notches. This was a lot to decide to a nine-year-old. He went to the wall.

We all hit the wall in one way or another. In life, it’s easy to get around the wall. When we can’t get what we want, we try something else. We don’t get along with somebody, we try another relationship. We hit the wall, we walk away. No resolution.

But when you’re on the playing field, at the real wall, it’s another matter. You can’t waffle, you can’t negotiate, you can’t buy time, you can’t explain. The wall takes no excuses. Either you climb it, or you don’t. As Yoda says "Do or do not. There is no try."

The wall suddenly became a metaphor of life for me. In its startling simplicity, it encapsulates what we do and do not face in life. The wall stands there, a challenge, a measure you take of yourself.

Perhaps we really don’t like disappointment, or don’t want to see where we’ve left ourselves in life. I know I didn’t like it when I became a fat, out of shape slob. But when you lose your breath going up one flight of stairs, and don’t recognize the guy staring back from the mirror, then maybe something needs to be done. That was my wall.

The wall will always be there, in one way or another, whether we recognize it or not, whether we acknowledge it or not. It’s the modern version of the mountain to climb, the river to cross in all those romantic songs we hear. But the wall never hits back.

Don’t be afraid to hit the wall. You deserve to beat it.