do what matters

I think this may be one of my last blogs from my thoughts on Free Solo. I may have one more in the chamber and I'm sure when I watch it for the 17th time I will have some more thoughts to talk about, but until then I'm coming to a close on my reflections. One of the biggest things I think I am still taking away from this though is,  do what matters. Let's talk.I know you don't know me. I know you may or may not read these articles fully or if they even have an impact on your life. I know I'm probably not qualified to be talking about any of these topics, but here are my thoughts. I was raised in a "normal" household and did the "normal" stuff in my life. I went to school, I played sports, I graduated highschool. Then I went to college, was a collegiate athlete, was involved in organizations, and I graduated. I got "the" job, I worked, I traveled, I settled into a position that I was supposed to be in/get hired for. I did all these things because it was what I was "supposed" to do. It is what I was told was "right" or the "path". When we're young the influence of what we believe to be right and the things that we are supposed to do mostly come from our parents and our friends. It is not until we branch out on our own that we start to question things.Is this what I am supposed to be doing? Is this what I want? Is this what is right? Right for me? The right path? Where am I heading? Is this the career I want? The partner I want? The friends I want? This has been manifesting in my mind over the past few years. I think it's one of the hardest things to do in your life. To able to sit down and ask yourself candidly about where you are at and where you are heading. I recently was talking to a friend of mine who asked me if he should get back with his ex-girlfriend. He explained how he still loved her and how he missed how much fun they had and so on. He then explained that he thought he had wanted the single life, the party life, and how he had felt pressured into making the decision to give up what he had with her. So he asked if he thought he should get back with her... I said this, do what makes you happy. You went down a road you thought was right, and it turned out to be wrong. It is not about waiting to find out in life, it's about going after it.In this world we all have a limited time. We don't know when our time will be up which is why I think the aforementioned is so important. For so much of our lives we are constantly told what to do, where to be, who to hang with. We are told that we should find a good job, to buy a house, to raise a family. Which are all great things, but before we head down that path I think we forget to ask ourselves, does it matter to us? Because I think we constantly chase what we think is right only to find out it didn't make us happy. Only to find out that it didn't matter. You see, we have to find out for ourselves. We have to run these ideas down, we can't just assume that one size will fit all and that our lives should be the same as what others are. I think we can take this example from Alex.Alex went after what he loved when the opportunity presented itself. His father passed away and he had inherited some life insurance money. While most people would look at this as a tragic moment (which it is), I think there is a positive. It allowed Alex to chase down his dreams. Alex speaks about how his Dad was such an advocate for his climbing and how he wishes he could see the manifestation of the work that he is now accomplishing, but I think that everything in life has a reason. Sometimes in life we may be given an opportunity that scares us. That may put us in the unknown, that may push our limits. Isn't that what life is about? Taking the chance? Because do you want to look back on your life to say you didn't go after the things that mattered to you? The things that you thought were right? Is it better to have tried and failed than to have never tried at all?Do the things that give you happiness. Do the things that you love. Do the things that MATTER. Because fulfillment doesn't come from being complacent, or being comfortable. It comes from doing what matters, with the people who matter, to you.On purpose,Matt