tie a knot

S. Michael Wilcox once told a group of us that when you reach the absolute end of your rope, sometimes you just need to tie a knot and hang on.

Today I could have done without the knot -- I just would have liked to have reached the end of my rope!

I went rappelling down a 200 ft cliff. It started really fun! I decided I was not going to think about it. I was just going to do it! I leaned out over the edge and started down. I quickly reached the next ledge, took a couple steps backwards, leaned out over the next edge and continued down. I was pushing off the rocks and having a great time when...

COMPLETE STOP!

There was a knot in the rope and it got wedged in my figure 8. I was a little over halfway down and I was going nowhere. I bounced on it thinking my weight would force the knot through. No dice. I just dangled in midair unable to push the knot through.

After about 8 minutes, a guy rappelled down beside me. With sheer brute strength, he was able to force the knot through and send me on my way.

I've never been happier to reach the end of my rope!