Preparing to Have Fun

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“It’s not the will to win that matters – everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters.” – Paul “Bear” Bryant

I wasn’t a particularly athletic or outdoorsy kid. It wasn’t until my late 20’s that the climbing bug bit me. I was driving my car to work. I came around a corner, saw Mt. Rainier dominating the skyline and thought, “I should climb that.” From there climbing became not only one of my passions but also in many ways my metaphor for tackling the challenges of life.

Summits, blisters, carrying a pack, one step at a time, working as a rope team, objective versus subjective dangers – all of it gave me such great perspective on life.

Give me a pebble in my shoe and I’ll turn it into an essay about self-care. I’ve failed to take the time to stop to get rid of something little before it gets big enough times to have a lot to say about that lesson.

All of this to say that I came to hiking and climbing mountains as an adult. So when I proposed to my kids in mid-December that we climb Tiger Mountain on New Years Day and they enthusiastically said they wanted to, I had to think carefully about how to make it a good experience for them.

Go ahead and groan now because here comes the point cloaked in a climbing story. The first time that I tried to climb Mt. Rainier, it hurt like hell. We made it to our base camp at 10,000 feet and then a storm came in. We couldn’t leave for our summit bid at midnight as planned because it was still snowing so at 6am, the lead guide came in and said, “Whoever wants to try for the top can go ahead and gear up. But we’ll have to go twice as fast as our normal pace to get this done in half the time.”

My friends and I made it 11,000 feet before dropping out. Only 3 out of the 24 climbers made it to the top that day.

And I learned that the better shape you are in, the more fun you’ll have climbing. There are two levels of readiness – the first is to get yourself up (and down) a mountain. The second is to train enough to climb the mountain AND have some more in the tank in case you need to do a little more. It’s more likely to be fun if you’ve trained to the second level.

This applies to other things as well. Like getting ready for a presentation. The first level accounts for doing the preparation of putting together the slide deck. The second is doing that, practicing the presentation out loud, preparing the Q&A, and doing it well enough in advance to have a cup of tea to calm the nerves before starting. I’ve done that both ways as well and the second one is way more fun.

Circling back to inviting my kids along for a hike up Tiger Mountain, I wanted them not only to be able to do it but also to have fun. That meant that we all had to do the work to train to that second level. Working out on the stairs in our home, going to the Capital Hill stairs to train, walking the trail at Discovery Park, doing a pre-NY day hike up Little Mt. Si – I tried to vary it and make it fun. We had some bad moments along with the good but ten-year-old Miss O and six-year-old Mr. D were pretty good sports about it all.

I told my friend, Bill, that we’d done the hike and he sent me the Bear Bryant quote for this post. It matches what I’ve experienced. There are a lot of things we can white knuckle and get through. Having fun doing it requires some preparation.

(featured photo is the kids and I on a training hike)

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81 thoughts on “Preparing to Have Fun”

  1. I like how you reframed your thoughts and experiences to make it fun for the kids, for that’s what they’ll remember. Take the fun out of it and they’ll run far from anything resembling it once they get older. With fun they’ll learn that challenging themselves, within their personal limits, is very rewarding. Kudos!

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  2. I had the same thought as Tamara. I remember when I first started yoga, weightlifting, hiking, etc. and each had hard parts at the start but, as I built competency, the challenges became fun. Also, that Paul “Bear” Bryant is great!!

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  10. Such good life lessons at any age and I like the way you framed it, both ways will get you there but one way will much more fun and a better experience. This is a lesson we can all take from this and one your children will remember forever. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they write about it someday and share it with their own children

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  11. I commend you on helping to make this a successful experience for your kids. The mistake many people make when taking on a new endeavor is failing to respect the process of taking the time to get where they want to go. So many life lessons, beyond climbing, apply to this real-life teaching moment.

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    1. You are so right that this applies to so many things, Pete. You are right – we often don’t know how much time and commitment it’ll take. I certainly have made that mistake before!! Thanks for the great comment, my friend!

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  13. What a wonderful feat for you Wynne, Miss O and Mr. D to hike up Tiger Mountain! And oh my gosh, you guys certainly got some training in preparation for that hike! 🚶🏼‍♀️🥾🚵🏼‍♀️ This is so awesome and inspiring my friend! Talk about the will to win…just try! Hugs and smooches my dear friend. 💖

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    1. Oh, you are such an amazing encourager, Kym! Yes, we did manage to get ourselves up and training quite a bit. Happy that it worked out for my little team! Thanks for the lovely support and hugs, my friend!

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      1. You’re so very welcome my dear Wynne. Perseverance can make a big difference when the team is watching you! 😜😎😍 Have an adventurous weekend my friend! 🚶🏼‍♀️🏃🏼‍♀️🚶🏼‍♀️

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  14. Did you tell them there were real tigers at the top of the mountain? At that age, this would have been plenty of motivation for me to make the trek. I’ve always loved me some tigers.

    (At that age, I probably didn’t realize actual tigers would probably eat me if given the chance.)

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  15. Your commentary on preparation for a presentation caught my eye. One might add some advice about public speaking in general, including listening to the great speakers of the past such as Adlai Stevenson II, Churchill, and JFK. Recording your voice when you practice, too. I also benefited from memorizing what I intended to say, thus taking one’s head out of the written speech, thus increasing eye contact, and giving yourself more confidence and comfort in delivering it. There is more that one might do, but I will leave it at that, except to say I am sure your preparation for your children ascent was super! The Leon bunch looks very happy!

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    1. Ah, such wonderful reminders about all the things we can do to prepare. And I know you’ve done the work because I saw that fantastic speech for the Zeolytes! Yes, it really does help and as much as I don’t like hearing myself talk out loud, I agree that it helps with confidence and comfort. Thanks for the great comment, Dr. Stein!

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  20. Congrats on starting the year off on a literal mountain high, Wynne. Such a fun, charming and inspiring read right before my bedtime. Seeing all your proud and happy smiles is just joyous.

    I definitely agree there are layers to a planning a summit, literal or metaphorical, and to always aim for that deeper second level of training. There’s a 22-km mountain hike I’ve been wanting to do with T one day and the hubby but I know it’ll demand a lot from us. So your post inspired me and will bookmark this in my brain for future reference!

    And I just love that you just suddenly decided to climb a mountain in your 20s. I struggle to climb off my couch to get the remote some days. 😂

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    1. I’ve been sick this week so I totally relate to the struggle climbing off the couch, Ab!

      The other thing that worked in my advantage for Tiger Mtn was that my 26-yr-old niece joined us. My kids were so happy she was there that they didn’t want to complain at all.

      22km is a lot – it’s amazing what kid legs can do but you’re right, it’s going to take some work. I CAN’T WAIT to hear about that hike!!

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      1. I’m sorry that you’re sick, Wynne. I hope you are on the full mend soon!

        Glad you had your niece to help you. It’s nice when the next generation can help the next next generation. 🙂

        Hope you can get some rest this weekend!!!

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  23. What a great post Wynne. I realize that I sometimes prepare just enough to achieve the goal. How insightful to prepare for more, so that you can actually enjoy the journey (instead of just barely making it.) I need to think more on this….

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  27. That is so awesome you prepared your kids so they’d enjoy the accomplishment of the hike. My dad would have us train for our annual ski trip to Sun Valley. I love that view from the 5 when Mt. Rainier takes over the view!

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  28. I think practice is a great thing to instill in young lives, Wynne. Demonstrating how tasks can improve with repetition is laying the foundation for how to navigate not just those educational years, but post-education…when life is of course way less predictable…and offers up obstacles testing our will towards working towards “winning.”

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  29. I like the way you trained with your children to climb Tiger Mountain. There is lightness in it, a way to enjoy the present moment having a goal in mind. And I also like that climbing is your metaphor for tackling the challenges of life. I think I can relate to it, even though I have never climbed 😀

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  30. I love this Wynne, how you connect our outer and inner experiences so beautifully. I’m a firm believer in everything is a sign, especially the pebble in your shoe, the clogged toilet, the burnt lasagna. I like to find the alternative messages embedded in our experiences. Makes life an endless mystery to live out. xo, C

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  31. Good for you! You’re an amazing mom! What fun that training must be (and some hardships, of course, too) to make the actual event more fun. But you’re teaching them life lessons about hard work, perseverance, and preparation. Great job!

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  32. I love this, Wynne. Climbing is the perfect metaphor for life, and the lessons you convey are always inspiring. But modeling them for your children, teaching them to climb literal peaks and the mountains of life, showing them how to prepare for challenges while not losing sight of the fun in life… That is next-level! Brava, Wynne! ❤️

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