Sharks and Mountain Climbing

I just came back from doing the Cedar Lakes climb again. I'll get in three more of those before I leave. I feel good. I feel ready. At this point its all about staying healthy, maintaining my training, and coming into the climb with good energy.

As the time draws near I find people become more candid about their concerns. My Mom wants to see me as much as possible before I leave, and she thinks I should be bringing more of my own food. A client asked me yesterday who he should work with if I don't come back. Another client suggested to the gathered group at a seminar I held that they all pitch in and buy a life insurance policy on me (note: I am uninsurable owing to this very activity). One of my colleagues asked if I'm concerned about leaving the boys behind if something should happen.

I was thinking about these things as I lugged my pack full of water up the trail today. The questions people ask demonstrate a touching measure of concern. I appreciate that. But at once they seem to be asking if I am worried or how I deal with the prospect of adverse outcomes in the runup to this climb. Let me say that I don't brush these risks off, and I don't believe any amount of macho beats the mountain. I have made a thorough study of this climb and what it will take to get up and down. I have trained appropriately. I have the best equipment money can buy. I will be climbing with world-class professionals. I have made necessary arrangements for evacution if things go sideways. But there's something more.

I have a nephew who grew up on the Hawaiian island of Kuai. In the many visits we have made through the years I have known the pleasure of being taken along on several of his varied and vaguely dangerous adventures. On one trip John invited me to join he and his friends as they snorkel dived for octopus off the outer reef on Kuai's south-east coast, an area known for sharks.
"Don't you worry about the sharks," I asked as we geared up. His expression set a serious and instructive slant. "No no, uncle Dave. Never think about the sharks. It attracts them."

There is a lot of truth in that. Whether its a vibration we put out through the water or the nebulous hand of fate at the switch, we seem to attract that which we think about. Those who contemplate negative outcomes are rarely disappointed. It's not just positive or wishful thinking I am talking about. This is more about the absence of certain thoughts, a refusal to grant them real estate within the sphere of your spirit.

Another version of this idea was proffered by a motivational speaker I listened to many years ago. Brian Tracy used the example of of two Grand Pianos alone in a room. If you hit a C sharp on one piano, you could then observe that the C sharp string was vibrating on the other. He said this was a law of nature, the "Law of sympathetic resonance." His point being that we attract like kinds. Not a novel notion to anyone who has had a significant relationship, but interesting in the sense that it suggests once again that our thoughts and feelings release a signal that is perhaps observed and or affects the constituency of our environment.

So then. If you are snorkeling in shark infested waters with tasty octopus on your catch stringer try to think about happy, friendly, harmless fish ...but keep your eyes open. If you are climbing a high altitude mountain think about the successful end of that day ...and mind your ropes.