Lesson 6: You Can Give In, But Never Give Up

We had a bus booked for 10am in the morning and it was 9:37, but neither of us wanted to leave Vang Viene yet so we changed our bus ticket, and booked ourselves in for a day of rock climbing and both slept well with our decision.

In the morning we head off to the site on a tuk tuk, took a boat across the water, and a long look at the beauty before us. The mountains here are absolutely breathtaking. You must see them to really appreciate their majesty. We walked a couple feet and there lie our hallway of walls to climb.

Now we were all beginners, so we got an intro and safety talk. For those of you who have ever done any extreme sport you know the safety talk is always a bit intimidating!! “Be careful or you will surely die,” our guide told us. That made me a bit nervous- I was planning on this being cake. The warning was followed by, “You can give in if your body can’t make it, but never give up.” Oh sure I thought, I can die trying!

My first climb went better than I thought- it wasn’t as hard as I predicted, and it was really fun once you make it to the top! The second and third were a bit more of a challenge, but I was a better climber than I thought, so easily accomplished! The fourth climb was a bit more difficult- the guide couldn’t make it and had to send up his buddy. Then none of the other climbers could get past a certain point. I was already weak, but determined.

I looked closely at the wall and started strong, I was flying up! “What a monkey,” people said! I felt good about the outcome… and then I hit that point! I got a little past the others, but there was a hole I couldn’t gather enough strength to boost my foot into. I fell back and my body was relieved to have a rest. “Hold on,” I told my support below, “I want to try again.” After a brief swing, while I gave a show to those below, I went in again for the goal. I tried to push up quickly and waste less of my strength, yet still, I fell back. I rested again, and pulled myself together to do this- I refused to give up!! With a shaking leg and two jelly arms, I finally gave in! I fell to the ground still satisfied, because I knew I had given it my all!

I was tired and weak from all the climbs, but everyone decided to do one more- another hard one, 6A+ on the scale. I watched as people tried and failed. One of the guys, who had climbed before, made it! So it could be done! I was tired though, already weak from the day.

I grabbed my shoes and laced them onto my feet before my mind had even decided to go. I stood up grabbed the rope and went for it. It didn’t look as high, but damn was it hard! I fell, tried again, and fell again. I hung there for a moment, okay, I had tried, time to come down. “Ok, I’m happy,” I mumbled. Deep inside I knew that wasn’t true though- I was weak, but not weak enough to give in. I looked around for some kind of grip and saw no options. Then, I reached up anyways, and decided to try again. I would give in, but never give up. My leg wasn’t shaking yet, so I kept pushing! I felt around for any little fragment of rock I could use to keep going up. It took me a good 3 minutes, but after a few more falls, and a few more cuts, I made it to the top where I literally kissed the last clip!!

There are so many times in life where you reach a point and you feel stuck! There is no where else to go. No foot hole, no grip for either hand. You want to give up, but just when you think it’s over, your hand falls into the perfect spot and you boost yourself up just a little, which lets you know you can. There have been so many times in life where I have climbed so far, put in so much time, made such progress… only to get to a point where I get stuck and see no other option. In those moments I sometimes gave up. However, there were times where I let go and stopped looking so hard, and prayed. I trusted that life would show me another way I didn’t yet see. Well, in those times, I always made it to the top.

There are those points we get to where we want to reach the top, but it is still too difficult for us. We try, but we have to give in at the end. In those times, you will know because you will still feel good at the end. You may want to try again once you are more prepared or skilled- but you still reached your personal top.


Sometimes you may have to take a step back in life in order to find a better way to move forward. You may have to fall, take a break, and try again. You may even have to keep falling over and over! As long as you allow yourself to take the time you need-no matter how many people are watching or judging, and keep faith that you can do this, YOU CAN- and better yet YOU WILL!