If you've read my blog before, you may remember that a few weeks ago some friends and I went camping and rock climbing in South Dakota. Now I have pictures to prove it.

Yes indeed, that's me, climbing a really big rock. After watching everybody climb all day long, Josh and the gang finally convinced me to give it a try.

Rock climbing is much harder than it looks. And even somewhat harder than I expected. I would have liked to climb all the way to the top of that big rock in the picture; as it was, I made it about fifty or sixty feet, they tell me. And I'm pretty proud of that.

I really wasn't very scared to climb. I trusted the ropes, the equipment, the people who were telling me that I could do it. My hesitancy was more along the lines of wondering how I'd measure up, what I would look like next to everyone else. I had never climbed before, so I had no personal goals to compete against. Rather than realizing that this meant that I would be successful no matter what, I was more tempted to think that next to all these veteran climbers, I would fail no matter what. To put it simply, I didn't want to look stupid next to people I percieved as better than myself.

How often do we do that in life? Are there times when we trust the situation we're in, but we're afraid to try something new because of unrealistic standards we've set for ourselves? And what about when competing against ourselves would do just fine, but instead we make impossible comparisons with others?

My Philosophical moment for the day: Live for God and for yourself. Forget about what society, your peers, your parents, or your church says about you. Would God like what you're doing? If so, then follow your heart, and forget about what the world thinks. Stop wondering "how cool would it be if..." and just do it. Life life to the fullest. If that means climbing a rock when you think you'll look silly doing it, go get on that rock. If that means sponsoring a poor child in a third world country when you should be paying bills, give that kid a chance at a better life. If it means quitting college and going to culinary school, or getting married on a moment's notice, or changing majors half way through your senior year... forget what everyone thinks is smart, and do what your heart tells you.

At risk of ruining my little moment there, that was quite the tangent, don't you think?