Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro was the most physically challenging experience I have ever had. Prior to that, it was probably the twenty mile hike in December, 2023, chronicled HERE. I have no desire to repeat either of those challenges, and I’m not sure what’s next. I’m not really feeling the need to challenge myself again, but hiking excursions in different parts of the world are enticing. And now I know that I can probably succeed.
Hiking on mountains is one of my favorite ways to immerse myself in nature. The views and the air can be breathtaking. Hiking in deep forest is a close second, and merging these two is just magical.
We use the expression “mountaintop experience” to convey the elation and exultation over a particularly astounding event. When we have these experiences, we feel breathless, our hearts race, and we feel “on top of the world.” From this vantage point, we can see the depths from which we have climbed, the valleys we ascended from. If it’s a clear day on the mountaintop, it feels like we can see the whole world spread out at our feet, all the questions are answered. We also can see, much more clearly, the other mountaintops in the range and the valleys we would have to cross to get to those. Sometimes these mountaintop experiences just happen to us, without effort, but the more meaningful ones are the ones we had to work for.
And just as often as we talk of “mountaintop experiences,” that phrase is often followed by, “but one cannot stay on the mountaintop forever.” There will always be other mountains we need to climb. The experience of climbing one mountain gives us the assurance that we have the strength to keep on climbing the next ones as they present themselves.
If we are vulnerable and allow others to see us struggling to ascend our personal mountains, we can be a source of confidence for their own next climb. “I could never do that” turns into “if she can do it, then maybe I can, too.” And once we have summited, and gained a new perspective of that mountain, we are better able to share what we learned along the way.
Now that’s a whole lot of metaphor, the language in which I most easily speak, but what are some specific examples? Because I’m not really talking about climbing actual mountains, right? What is your mountain? What training have you had to do? Who did you look to for inspiration on how to get to the summit? Maybe it was a book or a podcast. Maybe a seminar or class. A particular conversation or an observation.
I’m remembering that the descent from Mount Kilimanjaro was so much easier than the ascent. It took a third of the time and a tenth of the energy requirements. It reminds me that it is so much easier to slide back into old habits after we have had a mountaintop experience. We can tell ourselves that we have been changed by that one experience, only to revert back to comfortable old patterns. If you’re like me, you have to keep relearning some of the same lessons over and over. But the more often we achieve success, the easier it will be to see the top again. “Oh, I know what this looks like. I know how to get there.”
So may this new year bring you closer to your particular mountaintop. Just keep climbing.