Oops! my ego is hurt ... :(

In my college days, I used to go rock climbing in Turhalli, Bangalore (why i mention Bangalore is coz i suddenly remembered that I am in US now) and was quite competent among my peers. Got some appreciations for my 'natural' climbing abilities and you know these things made me proud of my talents. Yeah but never had I boasted about myself coz there were people much better than I was.

Now that I am in UTD, I met a girl (name confidential) and got to know she is interested in rock climbing. Moment I got to know this, I knew I had to be friends with her. Primary reason being I could accompany her for some of rock climbing activities in and around Dallas. Few days passed and I got a chance to go with her to a 'Climbing Gym'.

She picked me up from home and along the way, I was blabbering about my climbing activities in Bangalore, told her that I have had experience with the artificial walls (though I had climbed it only once in my life), told her about the bouldering and she kept nodding her head. By then I had created a reputation about myself.

We reached the climbing gym and at the entry point, I told the administrators that I knew climbing. They asked me if I knew how to use a 'Grigri' ( I looked up the spelling in google just now). This was the first jolt I received and was taken aback. I had to admit I had not used it and said, I knew some 'belaying'. They showed my how to use it and it was simple. No problems.

The girl and I (partners in climbing, one belays, other climbs, then we were supposed to exchange places), started off our climbing session. I let her go first, me being a gentleman (Actual reason was to assess her abilities). Then, she started saying about the various difficulty levels in the routes designed. She started off on a route marked with a pink tape and went half way around. Took some rest, and finished the climb. Meanwhile I was looking around the place and was baffled by the vastness of the place and the amount of resources spent on it. It was as big as a football field and full of artificial walls, right from overhangs to straight walls to easier ones.

It was my turn and proudly went on to climb, quarter way through and I realized it was a pretty tough route. Half way through and I was puffing and panting and losing my grip. Then started the shivering of the leg (not because of fear, but because of lack of strength in them). I gave up and came down disappointed. This was the second time I realized I am not an 'expert'. She climbed one more tough one and I failed miserably there also. Then I decided, tough ones are not my cup of tea and climbed a few easier routes.

Finally we wound up and she appreciated that I was impressive. She said she took 8 months to reach the level I climbed. Got praised for my 'natural' climbing talents again and you know then I substantiated my failure with reasons such as 'out of touch for 2 years now' and things like that. Though a compliment, I knew I was not as good as her. Came home and I didnt even have strength to wash my face.

My ego.... i dont know where it is now. Seems to be lost.

Lesson learnt: Do not underestimate other's capabilities. It hurts to lose your ego.