Last Wednesday I finally got around to completing my free day trip task by going to the Culver City Stairs and actually climbing to the top. Looking back, there were seven life lessons I picked up from that experience, and I thought I’d share them here with you today.
No Turning Back
As I thought about what I could learn from this experience, it occurred to me that as I was scaling this hillside, one step at a time, I never looked back. There’s a saying that goes, “I may not be where I want to be, but I’m glad I’m not where I used to be.” The implication being, to relish in how far you’ve come, even if you’ve yet to arrive at your destination. Now far be it from me to begrudge anybody their sayings. If that one works for you, and helps you, so be it.
But looking back, and I can actually say looking back now because I’ve completed the task I set out to do – I never looked back. I always looked forward. I didn’t pay attention to how far I’d come, I paid attention to how much I had left. Because of the slope, I couldn’t always tell how much I had left. I wasn’t counting the steps as I went. At one point, I thought I had more steps to go than I did, when in actuality I was a short distance from the top. But in most cases I just focused on tackling the steps before me, knowing that with each step I took, I was that much closer to my destination. Even though I often couldn’t see the destination, I knew it was there.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying there are not times when you should look back, or that you shouldn’t celebrate smaller victories on route to your final destination. For example, if your goal is to loose 100 pounds and you’ve lost five so far, that’s a great thing, celebrate that if you want to. What I am saying is, for me, I’m happy I didn’t look back, because I started up that hillside not really thinking I could complete it in the first place, but just wanting to see how far I could go. And while I didn’t make a conscious effort not to look back, I’m glad I didn’t because had I looked back after making so much progress, with my legs hurting and just feeling pooped, I may have just congratulated myself for getting as far as I did and stopped where I was, never realizing that I could have gone all the way, that I had it in me to go all the way.
Make Adjustments
After coming up the path leading to the bottom of the steps, I was already exhausted. I stood at the base of the stairs, catching my breath, taking it all in, watching some start their trek up, while others were on their way down. It’s at the bottom that you can see the enormity of this task (at least for me it’s an enormity), but I could also see the first landing area – not so bad. So my initial strategy was to power my way through each set of steps between the landings.
That’s exactly what I did for the first set, but it wasn’t that easy. I mean, it was easy in the sense that I got through it fairly quickly without pain, the incongruent, jagged design of these steps intensified the workout from the beginning. I had to pay attention to where I was setting each foot. I had to really extend my legs to get to some steps. I was being challenged from the get-go.
Still, after taking a breather once I hit the first landing, I tried to power through the second set as well and got burned. I just could do it anymore. My legs did not want to go. I had to get my arms in on the action, and used the handrail to help myself up. I had to slow down. Sometimes, I even had to stop and catch my breath right there on the steps, in the middle of a set before I reached the next landing. People coming up behind me had to go around.
That’s when I realized, it’s not about powering through each of these sets to the next landing, it’s about reaching the next landing and eventually the top. So I changed things up. I took longer breaks at the landings, and listened to music to pump myself up. When I finally started up the stairs again, and this is crucial, I didn’t keep going until I felt that unbearable pain as I did before, I began stopping before I felt that unbearable pain creep in. I never took less than two steps, but I often took two and then stopped, caught a few breaths then started again. Instead of pushing myself to exhaustion, I just pushed myself to a bit outside of my comfort zone then stopped, waited till I got more comfortable again, then started again to a bit pass my comfort zone and so on. And that proved to be a winning formula for me.
I didn’t care about all the fit people passing me, running up the stairs nonstop, I just did my own thing. Had I tried to power through the whole thing, somebody probably would have had to call an ambulance to come get me. But by making adjustments as I went along, listening to my body, going at my own pace, taking it slow, I was able to finish.
Do a Bit More than You Think You Can Do
Honestly, I didn’t think I would make it all the way up those stairs…well, there must have been some part of me that believed because I did it, but for the most part, I wouldn’t have been surprised if I didn’t make it to the top. But once I did, I thought, wow, that was a real workout. It made me realize that I don’t go hard enough in normal workouts. If I could do this and survive it, I need to be going harder in my regular exercise routine. Because I did more, I realize that I can do more.
Determination Finds A Way
Earlier I talked about making adjustments. I think the reason I even had the mind to make adjustments instead of excuses was because at some point, I became determined to finish. Along the way, I had several reasons to stop: I was out of breath, my legs hurt, I had a long way to go, but I also wanted to get to the top. So even though I wasn’t able to continue on at the pace I started with, because I was determined, I found a way to work around the pain, or work with the pain to continue on anyway.
It Helps to Have an Expected End
I wasn’t climbing those stairs haphazardly, inadvertently. Even in the times I couldn’t see it, I knew there was an end. I knew there was a there, there. Before I ever took the first step, I knew what I was getting into. I knew it would be hard. I knew I might not finish. I knew there were 282 steps. Basically I knew what I was working toward. That’s not to say I eliminated uncertainty, uncertainty was always there. I wasn’t for sure how hard it was going to be, if I would like it, if I thought it would be worth it – those were the chances I was taking. But I wasn’t taking a chance on what this activity had to offer me. I wasn’t expecting a hundred steps only to find out there were actually 282. I wasn’t expecting someone to be waiting at the top handing out cookies and milk, I knew I would be getting a view. I also knew the landings weren’t the top, even the last landing wasn’t the top.
I just think in life, it helps to know what you want and know where you’re going. Not only know it, but have a clear idea off what it will be like to get there, so that you don’t waste your time with people or things, or activities that are not conducive to helping you get there, that’ll make you think you’ve reached the top when you’re really stuck on a landing. Or that’ll have you thinking the top is one thing only to get there and find out it’s another. Before you take the first step, I think it’s important to have an expected end.
It Helps to be Around Others Doing the Same Thing
Usually when I work out, I do it alone. I watch YouTube videos, go for a stroll around the neighborhood or at the park. Even though there’s always at least one person walking around the neighborhood, or a good number of people in the park, I always feel disconnected from them, because I don’t know how far they’ve come or where they’re going. I guess the same thing is true for the stairs too, but I assumed that most of them had the goal of getting to the top. As a matter of fact, some of them lapped me a time and a half or so. But seeing other people press on to the top, helped me want to do the same.
It’s the Climb
You know when people say shit like, it’s not the destination, it’s the journey, I’ve always called bullshit on that. All though that could be because I so often stop during the journey never to reach the destination…but anyhoo. So many journeys for me have been treacherous leading to nothing. Or, in the case of something like a plane ride, after the take off (which I love), oh and the food, there’s nothing to look forward to besides the landing, and whatever city I’m now going to be embarking on, or coming back home. Needless to say, I’m not one that’s really big on journeys.
This time, however, was different.
As I said before, getting to the top kind of surprised me. It kind of snuck up on me. I was so concentrated on taking my steps and breathing, I didn’t even realize I was almost there. Then the next thing I knew I saw people sitting on raised cement benches, and the steps were flat and uniform and easy to ascend. While it was exhilarating to know I made it, there was nothing special about being up there. What was special was all the work I put into getting up there. It was the mental adjustments, the physical adjustments that I had to make to make it to the top, that proved to be more fun than getting to the top itself. I mean maybe if there was someone waiting with free food it would be different. Afterall, I was born and raised here. I’ve seen a smoggy L.A. view a time or two in my life. For me, it was all about the climb.
Now to be fair, there are other things you can do once you get up there. I think there’s a visitor center and some paths you can hike along, but I just sat down, caught my breath, listened to a few songs and then began my descent. Oh, and took in the smoggy view…it was after all, still a view.
So those were the lessons I learned and relearned from taking on the Culver City Stairs, do with them what you may.
Or, more importantly, discover your own.
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