Where there is a will, there is a way down!
When we visited the Great Wall a few years ago, we watched in awe as a young, fashionable woman walked backwards down a steep section. All this while wearing a pair of high heels and holding an umbrella to protect her from the scorching sun. In fact, it was her choice of footwear that necessitated her unorthodox descent. The angle of the wall, combined with the three inch heels would have pitched her onto her face, had she tried to walk forwards. It was one of the anecdotes we recounted frequently when asked about our family trip to China.
A viral video worthy moment…
Our immediate reaction
Our immediate reaction was to have a bit of a chuckle while judging her lack of “common sense” in choosing her attire for the day. Our laughter was a form of self congratulatory judgment — Who goes rock climbing dressed for the mall? We silently patted ourselves on the back for having the forethought to wear sneakers.
A fresh perspective
That was over 5 years ago. When I stumbled upon the video last week I had a very different reaction. Yes, I smiled initially, as I remembered the laughs we had at her expense, but then I started to think about her as a person rather than an object of ridicule. I wondered if, like us, she had travelled halfway across the world to meet distant relatives for the first time. Or had she just taken a local day trip with friends at the spur (pardon the pun) of the moment.
No matter, her unsuitable footwear didn’t stop her from climbing pretty high up the wall in the extreme heat. It took us over 45 minutes in walking shoes to climb the cobbled path to that height. Somehow she managed to get at least that far. But as we all know, going up is the easier part of an uphill hike. Coming down is far more challenging.
Marveling at her feat
This time, I found myself marveling at her feat (another unintended pun) with admiration. I reflected on her determination to experience one of the seven wonders of the world firsthand. While others might have waited for their group at the base, she chose to not miss the opportunity and did not make excuses. And as Ginger Rogers said about dancing with Fred Astaire, she did everything that we did, except backwards, and in heels!
Our fellow tourist may have suspected that people were judging her, but she did it her way anyway.
I thank her for reminding me that there is more than one way to follow a path, and that where there is a will, there is a way down!
In case you were wondering, this is how we did it!
This article was originally published on Medium. I’m sharing it here so my community has one place to access all of my writing and resources.