The Climb

I can almost see it
That dream I am dreaming
But there’s a voice inside my head saying
“You’ll never reach it”

Every step I’m taking
Every move I make feels
Lost with no direction
My faith is shaking

But I gotta keep trying
Gotta keep my head held high

There’s always gonna be another mountain
I’m always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Sometimes I’m gonna have to lose

Ain’t about how fast I get there
Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side
It’s the climb–MileyCyrus

If you have ever climbed a mountain–and in particular a 14er–then you are no doubt familiar with what climbers refer to as a false summit…where one has hiked for hours all while thinking their “destination” is within reach only to discover looming above them in the distance is the true mountain top, the height of the summit, all 14 thousand feet of it–and in that moment it may feel insurmountable. And yet.

And yet you can taste it, in your minds eye you imagine yourself with a 360 degree view and a USGS stamp pronouncing that you have arrived. This vision pumps through your veins and you know that despite the voice in your head proclaiming “you will never reach it,” regardless of the fatigue that may be leaching into your feet, there is a greater thought which will pull you forward, the dream you are working for, the goal you have set and you know you will in fact reach the summit if only you continue to climb.

The beginning of 2012 for me was a series of false summits. It seemed as if every time a goal was within reach I would soon discover that despite being above timberline there were still miles ahead left to trek and the ever elusive goals I had set began to cast an ominous shadow of doubt over me.

When doubt wraps itself around me like an unwanted wet cold blanket…sometimes I forget that only I can cast it to the side and seek warmth and clarity. During what thankfully was a temporary loss of judgement…I granted power to my fears which, much like a mounting storm, grew.

Somewhere along the way–despite the chattering teeth and quaking from the cold my body leaned into–I managed to cast the water logged cloak of apprehension to the side and re-frame my thoughts on a different set of truths.

This much I did know–that which I give power–gets it. In that pool of lightness it is far easier to discover that truly it is all about “the climb.”

Whether standing at the base of a mountain or the summit, the view and that which surrounds me, is what I make of it and turning my dreams into tangible outcomes requires me to continue to step forward. Taking time out to be in the moment, feel, be, allows me to take care of myself and focus.

Truly there is so much more than the summit–working toward a goal has a series of wins and celebrating them makes each 360 degree view I arrive at all the richer.