I watched the recent hit "Free Solo" with two other audience members almost at the same pace. It's not the scary ghosts and monsters, it's the excitement of pinching sweat. Even sitting in a movie theater, imagining [freehand] climbing a vertical mountain with almost no bulge is deadly and terrifying, but in the eyes of Alex, the protagonist of the documentary, this is a common thing. He loves rock climbing and has been climbing since he was a child, then started free climbing. So it revolved around his challenge to the very dangerous El Capitan, how he prepared, with this film that actually has no plot but is still gripping.
Of course, extreme sports will kill people, and they will die one after the other. Maybe surfing, racing, and rock climbing are the same as those who engage in this challenge. But what struck me was Alex's attitude towards free climbing - pure and simple love, bigger than life, and nothing else.
At the beginning, when it comes to love life, at his personal reader meeting, someone asked, is rock climbing positive or negative for your love life? He smiled and said it should be negative most of the time. Then he said he didn't mind it.
"I think I'll have a lot of girlfriends, and I've had a lot of them." Most people couldn't stand his risky behavior and left him, but he wouldn't change himself because of them. He will not change himself for anyone. Would rather accept the other half come and go, can not give up rock climbing. Because the joy it brings is so powerful. In the eyes of others, it is very dangerous. He feels that he is very happy when he has done it, and this sense of achievement is probably the driving force for all successful people to pursue their dreams.
Later he had another girlfriend, a lovely blond lady. She walks into his life, makes his life alive, and also makes mistakes that cause him to hurt. He doesn't show love, she said, and he's probably still learning. And she was worried about every time he climbed, and when she saw someone die from climbing, she would worry about whether he would do the same one day. So she is probably like all ex-girlfriends, she asked him with watery eyes, do you think you have an obligation to protect your life and make yourself live longer?
Alex said without hesitation, no.
The answer is so simple that the girlfriend does not know how to answer.
Because he probably really thinks that it is better to live a little longer than to live a little more wonderfully. For this wonderful, he can give up his emotional life, material life, and family responsibilities. You can feel bad, but this is his life.
He said a lot of people don't understand me, why do I do this, why do I love rock climbing so much. Even his girlfriend didn't understand him, and always hoped that he wouldn't challenge such a dangerous mountain again. To this end, he also went to the hospital for a brain test. The examination results are very interesting. His body function is not impaired, but the part representing excitement and tension is difficult to stimulate, in other words, a high threshold is required to stimulate him. Therefore, to us ordinary people, the mountain with trembling legs is the source of stimulation to him.
And although many people don't understand, he still has to climb. Because climbing is for myself, not for business, for fans, for parents, for girlfriend. But nowadays, there are very few people who live such a pure life. We are tired of living for the eyes of others and telling ourselves that this is not what I want.
Reminds me of my recent interview for a position at a large company I used to work for. The interviewer did not discuss the case studies I had done, but discussed my past résumé, believing that my job-hopping represented instability.
“You look at the guys in your contemporaneous period, who did it all the time from the beginning and then became managers, and you seem to lack that kind of planning.”
In this accusation, I was down for an afternoon, thinking in my mind, is my life wrong?
I don't know if all the people who "become a manager" have a clear plan at the beginning, and they are strictly implemented, and they have risen to the top without any disruption. But I know that the career path can never be changed by personal will. It may be market factors or team fluctuations. Many things may make you deviate from the ideal track, and you will constantly adjust your thoughts and think about whether to go back. To the original plan or to make a new plan.
In a changing society, I think change is as difficult as persistence. But if it's not right to not follow a certain route, I think I still can't accept it. I have thought about it for a long time. I have come this way. Maybe in the eyes of others, it is a toss, but that is the path I want to take, and it does not matter if I am not understood. After all, there is not only one corporate culture and one template of social people in the world.
In the eyes of the world, lifestyles are often divided into superior and inferior. Alex donated a third of his average income as a mid-level dentist, lived in a humble RV, was in the company of nature, and did not buy a house or a car. And I might have an admirable resume if I persisted silently from a salesman. It doesn't matter, just be ourselves, it really doesn't matter if anyone understands. Because when you are old, looking back on the past, all your experiences are wealth, and what you have will be lost, and those who do not understand will gradually leave, and those who understand you will naturally accompany and follow.
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