Letting Go

IT’S NOT THE TITLE of my new movie.

It is the first and most important lesson in rapelling. And it’s a lesson I learned on October 18 when, for the first time, I tried this high-adrenalin and heart-pumping activity.

My friends at the Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP) were teaching young kids how to rapel and, knowing that I haven’t tried it yet, invited me to join the fun.

There are people who can talk faster than they can think. Apparently I am one of them, unfortunately.

And before I realize what I got myself into it was already too late for me to back out. The only way for me to escape the 30+ feet rooftop of the BSP National Office is to rapel down its outer wall. And, thank goodness, I did.

The “breakthrough moment” in rapelling is that split second when you are about to let go and lean back on nothing but air. You have to trust your rapelling instructor, your equipment, and fate itself (that nothing will go wrong).

As soon as you’ve let go, you’ve done it! The trip to the bottom is still exhilirating, but 80 percent of the thrill and anxiety are already gone.

Now wait a minute… there’s more to rapelling than that. So far what I have tried is just the basic rapelling maneuver, i.e. rapelling with my back facing below. My next objective is to do the “Australian” and then the “Alpine.” I am not really sure yet what these maneuvers are, actually. I sort of just heard about them. But I am sure they’ll be a lot of fun.