Like I've said this is based on my personal experiences thus far. As they're limited take all this nonsense with a grain of salt.
‘Tolerance for Adversity and Uncertainty’ is perhaps my
favorite phrase taken from my Adventure Ed. classes at the Fort. I feel like
this phrase, assuming you can tick the yes or mostly so box, means that you
have patience, competency (this can certainly be a relative term), and open
mind and perhaps most importantly some sort of sense of adventure.
Patience is indeed a virtue and is a must in dirtbagging as
there are few permanent certainties. Who
knows where the next job will be, next partner, next meal, next legal place to
camp etc. In my experience snap decisions often lead to more problems than
solutions. Often times it’s simply best to stay put for an extra ½ hour, call a
friend, and find some free wi-fi or simply take a deep breath before committing
to anything. I’ve also found, and this certainly won’t work for everyone, but
realizing that this is where you’re
at and for better or worse you have to accept your current situation for what
it is and do what you can rather than playing the ‘what if’ game (unless you
have lots of time and it won’t hurt morale then go for it as it’s plenty of fun
and easy to play).
Competency or knowing one’s limits is also crucial for such
an errrr rough and tumble lifestyle. Whether you’re chasing those perfect
powder turns, seeking the next best downhill spot or slammin’ cams in perfect
splitters it is good to acknowledge your weaknesses for several reasons. First
of which is, if you’re dirtbagging properly, normally it is unlikely you have
super comprehensive health insurance or a place to recover from a serious
injury (insurance will be addressed more thoroughly at a later time), as a
result it’s best to avoid such predicaments by backing down and accepting the
serving of humble pie rather than the alternative. Second, is no one likes to
partner up with the sketch ball that claims to be doing things they only dream
of, whether that’s hucking cliffs, sending 5.15 or being able to belay
competently, as partnering up with one of these people or being one of these
individuals can be both frustrating and/or dangerous and that’s just poor form.
So, I guess competency also incorporates honesty, humility, good judgment
skillz and common decency; perhaps a tall order but I’ve been told it is good
to strive to your full potential.
Open mind, I reckon is another vague topic that to me means that
it’s best to be ready to go with the flow. If an opportunity presents itself
that’s close to your goal/final objective then go for it, as it may make for a
great story later. Sometimes almost is good enough in real life and horseshoes
and hand grenades. I say this because, in my experience and this has certainly
be echoed by others, life always seems to work out perfectly in the end. That’s
not to say there won’t be hiccups and hardships; but with a positive attitude
it’s not really that hard to find the silver lining in most situations. For
instance you miss a few meals – losing those pounds to send harder, miss a
nights rest – sleep better the next day, get hopelessly lost- motivation to
take that orienteering class, well I could go on but you hopefully get the
idea.
Lastly, sense of adventure goes hand-in-hand with open mind
as I think it would be difficult to have one without the other, I reckon they’re
pretty much mutually constitutive. It’s best to be ready to have curve balls
thrown to you; whether it’s weather, other people, automotive troubles etc. Be
ready to laugh at the most frustrating situations and go into what I call ‘adventure
mode’ where I try and adopt a ready for anything attitude, keeping in mind that
later, this might make a decent story.
As I’ve been writing this I have realized that creativity is
also pretty clutch for having a proper tolerance for adversity and uncertainty.
This can be demonstrated through temporary repairs, permanent repairs,
execution of plans and a great many other things. Basically, creativity to me
is using what you have to improve whatever situation you’re in, bad or good.
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