A View From the Top

"The Summit is what drives us, but it is the path that matters."

~Conrad Anker

I reached a summit recently, and it feels pretty awesome.

But true to my personality and what drives me, I immediately began to muse about how I could put a joyous perspective on what to do with these feelings. I realized that the older I get, the more it becomes apparent that life isn't filled with Summits. In fact, most of what life is about are the climbing parts - or the sitting and resting - or the falling and sliding. So being on a Summit is a rarer thing that I had believed it would be when I was oh, say, 35ish. And entirely different from what I imagined at 25ish. Astoundingly disproportionate from my views at 18ish. 

Reaching the Summit and the efforts to get there becomes a chapter in your life, not a page.

The pieces of the journey that helped move you forward and upward require many paragraphs and pages sometime. Thoughts that must be formulated, edited and completed before submission. You have to muster the courage to share your vision of the Summit with others, never knowing if they might smirk at you and urge you to turn back. Or perhaps, convince you that you are on the wrong path at the wrong time. All those pages and paragraphs for nothing....

Ah, but sometimes, you get there, and while the air is a little thinner, you breathe it in deeply.

You take a moment to enjoy the view and rest your weary bones. Plant your flag so others know you were there. If you are fortunate enough to have co-travelers, perhaps you dance around a bit with them, discuss the journey and toast to the finish. But it isn't long before you realize you can't stay there. The air is too thin, and there's not enough to sustain you for very long. You don't want to get heady and topple over. It's time to move on.

Look, there's a new path. 

And another Summit ahead...

Hmmm...What's next?

Cheers.