Have you heard of the phrase mental masturbation? There are a few different definitions and contexts in which this is used, but this is the one I am referring to: engaging in intellectually stimulating activities but with little or no practical purpose. I realized I do that with self help books and podcasts. I will at times, listen to, or read a self-help book, but not implement the learnings.

In climbing, part of the Warrior’s Way is to ask oneself, is this part of the climb making me uncomfortable or scared? If the answer is yes, this is where you start practicing falling. You choose to keep falling in that area until it becomes not scary, familiar, and you know what to expect. It’s brilliant.

In our lives, we are constantly reinventing ourselves.

We grow, we die many times, and we evolve.

It takes resilience to be able to transform, again and again. To rediscover our old selves in new environments and to evolve so that we are the same, yet different. Better, wiser, humbler, and able to be more stoic about life’s ups and downs.