This past summer, I spent a little time comparing life’s challenges with the sport of mountaineering, specifically in a couple of posts titled When Life Seems Like Mt. Everest. I have been planning to finish that series with a post focusing on how it is typically the journey a person experiences, rather than the destination, that is most important. However, I’m not certain that is completely true. I am at a point now where I see that both the journey, as well as our destination plays a vital role in our ability to successfully handle the challenges we come across in life.
First lets look at the journey we take. If we are not required to put in the due diligence of taking one step at a time, navigating the obstacles, feeling the burning fatigue in our muscles, and even managing the fear of the unknown…then most likely we will not appreciate the summit as much had we, in fact, endured those struggles. The sights, the smells, the details are all drawn out in an intimately vivid way from knowing what it took to be there. The journey gives us perspective, helps us appreciate where we have come, and even helps us gain a respect for those who have also made the same trek. A friend of mine who is an avid mountaineer, eloquently said this about the journey: “Climbing is a spiritual journey. One strives, suffers, hurts and often fails. It is the journey that teaches us what we are meant to know. The rewards are great to those who face the challenge yet realize that success lies in living to climb again. Some new land, some novel route and sometimes with new partners. On Belay!” It all boils down to the fact that the summit experience is not complete without having endured the entire journey.
However, I feel we often reduce the role that the destination plays as practically insignificant, which I feel is unwise. The destination is often the source of our motivation, which has a very direct impact on our performance, our drive, and our desire to get through the difficulties of the journey. My desire to reach the summit gets me through all the crap I have to endure. When my body is screaming at me to stop, when I feel as though I cannot continue and I want to give up and turn around, I refuse to listen because there is something greater than me that is calling out my name. This is the power of the destination, and it really does matter what that destination is.
There seems to be a direct correlation of the importance we assign to our destination to the level of suffering we are willing to endure in order to reach it. It is quite obvious when someone is fully committed, or should I say devoted, to their destination, their summit, their purpose, their mission, whatever you want to call it. The level of focus, the drive, the determination, and the willingness to continue on no matter how difficult, all play a vital role in their ability to reach the summit. Unfortunately, I would say that the converse is also true. The person who is indifferent about their destination will never willingly endure the struggles required to reach the summit. They will be forever limited to mediocrity, as it is often the case that the most spectacular sights are indeed the hardest to reach. Those summits reveal their beauty only to the most dedicated.
So, for me…I realize that everyday I wake up with a choice. A choice to get up, and make the most of what I’ve been given, recognizing that there are going to be days that I just want to sit down on the ground and give up, feeling like there is no way I can continue. But when those days do come, when I feel that my days have all passed and my plans have all been shattered, I reach down deep and am reminded of my ultimate destination and that the desires of my heart are in fact turning night into day, and while in the face of darkness, light is most definitely near.
Picture by Dave Pullin
