The Rope Team

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“Sometimes life is too hard to be alone, and sometimes life is too good to be alone.” – Elizabeth Gilbert

When I was climbing mountains, I noticed a funny thing when we roped up on the higher slopes of a mountain. We transformed from being individual hikers to becoming a team. The physical manifestation made a psychological difference.

Fortunately, I’ve never had to arrest the fall of someone else while on a rope team. But I have willingly climbed into a crevasse. It made me immensely grateful for the people above holding on to the rope.

A similar team phenomenon happened to me and my kids a couple of weeks ago when we were on vacation.

It was perfectly smooth when the kids and I decided to go paddleboarding after dinner. But by the time we got our paddleboards into the water, it was starting to blow again.

We’d been paddling every day for ten days to get the feel for the tides and current. At the beginning of the vacation, six-year-old Mr. D was paddling with me riding on the back of his board. Once he’d gotten proficient enough with his strokes, he graduated to be on his own.

So Mr D was on his own paddleboard. Ten-year-old Miss O had decided she just wanted to ride along on mine. On this night, Mr. D wanted to go all the way down the bay to the pirate flag, a notable marker about a mile down the beach from where we launched.

When we were about halfway there, the wind was present but not too much of a factor. We held a family meeting to make sure we wanted to continue. Mr. D had looked at that flag for 10 days and was determined to get there.

We celebrated momentarily when we reached the pirate flag. Then Mr. D said he was tired and just wanted to rest. At nearly the same moment, the wind whipped up and started pushing us farther away from home.

I said aloud, mostly for Miss O’s benefit, “Please, God, help us.” We weren’t in immediate danger but it was going to be a hard paddle back. At any point, we could have paddled 20 yards to the to the beach and walked back. It would have been a slog pulling the boards but it was a viable option.

Miss O got philosophical about how we ask God for help. We weren’t asking for it to be easy – just for help in any form. As it was, Miss O volunteered to get on Mr. D’s board to both give it more weight and to paddle.

Even with the two of them, they were being pushed backwards by wind. So I attached my leash to their board and we paddled back as a team. I paddled on my board, Miss O and Mr. D took turns paddling on theirs. Roped together, we slowly made our way home.

The overall feeling when we hit the beach? Gratitude. Thank God Miss O had opted to ride along and had fresh arms. Thank God she made the transfer from one board to another without mishap. Thank God for making us a team.

Because that was what stuck with us. Just like with climbing, roping together turned paddling into a team building exercise -and it worked. There are so many ways we are buffeted by the winds of life. A team can make all the difference.

(featured photo is mine)

You can find me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wynneleon/ and Instagram @wynneleon

I host the How to Share podcast, a podcast about collaboration – in our families, friendships, at work and in the world.

I also co-host the Sharing the Heart of the Matter podcast, an author, creator and storytelling podcast with the amazing Vicki Atkinson.

And for anyone curious about the inside of a crevasse, here’s what it looks like:

72 thoughts on “The Rope Team”

  2. WOW! Mountain climbing and paddle boarding what diverse activities and a clever way to get home on your paddle boards. God gives us strength when we need it, sometimes we forget to ask. When we do, we have to believe He’s there for us. A good reminder to work with others and believe. Have a great week.

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  3. A beautiful story of teamwork, family, resilience and perseverance. You’re building such individually strong kids and who can also learn to work together as a team through the harder moments. Love the weaving of mountain climbing and paddle boarding. I bet both kids will remember this moment for a long while too. And thank God for that.

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  4. Yikes!! It’s not only good that Miss O decided to come along but that she has the maturity to have remained calm and controlled. Other 6- and 10-year olds might have freaked! Hurray for your teamwork.

    Liked by 4 people

  7. What an amazing story of teamwork and trust. There are life lessons nestled in just about everything we do, aren’t there?

    Liked by 2 people

  9. Great story. The kids are taking on the natural world and following their mom’s example. There is always a need for such people. “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers (and Mom and sister, too).” So said Shakespeare’s Henry V before the Battle of Agincourt.

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    1. Love this Shakespeare to go with our adventure, Dr. Stein. We’d been to a Shakespeare play (Much Ado About Nothing) about 4 days before our paddleboard adventure so perhaps the bard was with us too!

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  10. I’m with Jane about the “yikes”! Me, too! The first word that came to mind when I read was “harrowing”. Wowza! But your two…they are truly water babies…turning into adventurers. Just like their momma. xo! 🥰

    Liked by 1 person

  12. I like ropes that hold us together – literal physical, family relationships, psychological – being of like mind, duty/responsibility, transcendent spiritual… I guess we have the responsibility for being sure that they’re securely attached.

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  14. how beautiful and in synch (literally) you were with each other, helping each other along as you went, with powerful words, arms, and strength together, that would have been much more challenging alone. a lovely lesson for all of you, and for us as well. p.s. I love that crevasse picture, that is extraordinary

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    1. As scary as crevasses can be — they really are beautiful, aren’t they? You make sure a good point – it would have been so much more challenging alone! I’m so proud of my young teammates! 🙂 ❤

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  19. What an excellent story of you and your kids asking God for help, working as a team and getting home safely. I enjoyed how you tied it into your mountain climbing. That last photo of you gives me the chills! Wow!

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    1. Thank you, Elizabeth. I know you were talking metaphorically about the chills but it reminded me of how quiet it was in the crevasse. Up top, it was so windy and cold but down there it was calm and serene). For a few minutes at least. 🙂

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      1. Wow! One of my best friends from Snohomish became a back country ranger. She also did mountain climbing. She fell into a crevasse. I don’t know if she was roped to her team or not. She survived in any case.

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  20. Lol, you guys decided not to take the easy way out! These kids are developing grit! They’re learning life lessons they will take with them when their future lives get difficult, and they’ll know they can dig deeper.

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      1. I remember when I was a young adult, feeling doubtful about my abilities to adult, I then reminded myself about the hard things I had accomplished, and told myself, “If I could do that, then I think I can do this.” Yes, these lessons they are learning now will help them in their future!

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  28. all I can say is whoa! (looking @ you in that crevice) I have tasted the energy of being on a well oiled team in the construction site.There’s a bonding that takes place.

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  29. Holy cow Wynne, that crevasse shot takes my breath away. It’s beautiful, but so dangerous too. And what an experience on the water! What a teaching lesson for Miss O and Mr. D. You solved the problem with everyone working together. (Phew, I’m tired just thinking about it. 😊)

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    1. I think the crevasse is beautiful too. Can you imagine how old that ice is? You said it perfectly – we solved the problem with everyone working together. A beautiful thing when it happens! Thanks, my friend!

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  30. Your children will never forget the lessons they learned that day, Wynne. God will bring them to mind when the same truths need to be affirmed. I’ll never forget the miracle when I was six, of a lost key that was found–after we prayed to find it. That incident helped me appreciate more fully God’s compassion for us, as well as his power to guide and help.

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    1. Oh, I love this story of finding the lost key. Incredible, Nancy! Wonderful how these powerful experiences stick with us! Thanks for the great comment!

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