I wrote something related to this years ago... Time to revisit (if you will).

Sometimes, you come to the realization that you're on your own.  Yeah, people will help you...  Don't take that for granted.

But sometimes, youre just, "on your own."

I was mentally strong in that area for a good while; mainly when I was really getting into climbing.  It taught me a lot about being independent.

There's a part during learning to lead that puts you in a position where youre the only one checking on yourself.  Its up to you to assess, check, double check, communicate, breathe, gather yourself, confirm with yourself, and set yourself up for a safe way back down.

The beauty in it, is that after you do the small but very necessary tasks, you come down with a sense of accomplishment, and all the little nervous breathing at the top of the climb  comes out as calm full breaths...

There is a great video showing this here.

Of course, you should be thanking your belayer, because they ultimately help you go up and get down, as well.

In my experience, there are few things that have this same feeling.  A lot of things come close, but in other aspects of life, its hard to voluntarily put yourself outside of your comfort zone, push yourself, test yourself, rely also on someone else, and get out of there, feeling good.

I've never met the grim reaper, so I can't say from experience that it would suck to cross his (or her) path... but dodging him is fun in a sense...

Things and songs that come to mind:

The Hangman - Die Klute

Etc.