"It's All-Consuming"

Tonight I happened upon a rock climbing article on matador.com (a travel website).  The article is about a couple of guys and their quest to figure out a new climbing route up Yosemite's El Capitan mountain.  The article has tons of jargon, but if you have three minutes, watch the video. 

They have put a collective four years into this project.  One of them is climber Kevin Jorgeson, who says:

Honestly, this is my future. Mescalito is all I can think about right now. It’s all-consuming. If I don’t focus all of my energy into it, I won’t succeed. I don’t have the background of El Cap free climbing that Tommy does. I’m having to change my climbing style a lot to adapt to this new challenge. I love it, but it requires that I focus all of time and energy on this. I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Aside from being a cool story, it made me think.  I give a mediocre effort to most things in my life (my walk with God, ministry, Chinese study, exercise, teaching, writing, friendship).  What if I approached them with the same passion, discipline, courage, hard work, and joy as these guys approach that impossible looking cliff?