Fear in a Nutshell
- April 2016
- Hi Steph
Hey Steph
This is a far reaching question, but in a nutshell how do you deal with fear? I’ve been trad climbing for 8 years and suddenly am feeling very fearful and it is affecting my confidence and ability to lead. I haven’t felt this way in quite some time. Physically, I am probably as strong as I have ever been, but that is not the case in terms of my mental game. Have you had bouts of fearfulness during your career as a climber? If so, how do you reverse the pattern so that it doesn’t continue to impact your climbing? Any advice is greatly appreciated.
thank you 🙂
Adrienne
Hi Adrienne,
Fear is interesting because it’s not linear, though I think sometimes we expect it to be. I remember it was a rude shock to me when I got scared again climbing, after the first phase of fearlessness I had, because somehow I thought getting past fear was a one time thing and so it seemed like regression. It makes sense though, strength training isn’t linear either–we always go through highs and lows.
After having gone through a lot of these phases over the years, with fear, with strength, with motivation, I’ve learned not to worry about it too much. In life, everything has to balance. You won’t always be on a high and you won’t always be on a low.
With fear, we have so many negative associations and reactions to it. It’s the most powerful emotion, and can completely control our behavior in ways that are sometimes undesirable. We talk a lot about conquering fear and about eliminating fear. In climbing, most of our conversation about fear seems to be with the goal of getting rid of it. I don’t think that’s going to happen, and I’m not sure that would actually be a good thing. Fear is what makes things intense, and what makes us focus. Fear can also be an important signal, if we don’t try to force it back and ignore it. It’s always going to be there, and it can be a positive element. It might be better to think about making fear into a partner. We don’t want to let it take over, and we don’t want to try to suppress it. Think about a great partnership of any type, climbing or otherwise. Each partner is equally important. Sometimes one is feeling stronger, sometimes the other–when the partners are working together, the team is at its best.
Right now, your partnership is out of balance, so it doesn’t feel good. But that isn’t a permanent state: it will swing back again (and again and again….)
Steph
