Facing the Mountains

My mom likes to refer to the pile of freshly clean laundry sitting in her room as "Mount Everest." And coming from a mother of six active kids, she isn't exactly exaggerating. Granted, the pile might not be as big as in THIS pic [evidently, here I wanted to exaggerate a 'lil], but yeah, you get the idea.

Which brings us to our main thought...

all of us have our own "Mt Everest" to face each day.

With each cross road decision we make, we pick out a path that eventually leads us to a mountain. Or, mountains. Plural, to be realistic. Try as we might, we will never come across a path that brings us through the grassy meadows without eventually ending up at the foot of a mountain.

It may be the Mountain of Glossophobia.

Or the Mountain of Procrastination.

Or the Mountain of Homework.

Or the Mountain of Confidence (or the lack of it).

The mountain differs with the circumstances of each individual, since we all face different challenges each day.

But one thing in common is that once we've reached the base of that mountain, our mountain, we have to make another decision:

To climb or not to climb?

At first glance, it may seem to be a huge mountain - tall, and looming, and daunting.

And sometimes the longer we stand at the bottom staring up at it and calculating the risks, the BIGGER and SCARIER it gets.

Like, is it a normal human thing or am I the only one who flinches at the initial thought of interviews or public speaking? Ok, maybe flinched is the wrong word to use. My first reaction was probably more of blanched than flinched. Ya know...momentary loss of speech, mind freezing, sudden acceleration in heart speed, that kind of thing?

Human or not [though I'm definitely hoping it is human rather than not], it's all part of the process.

The first step to Facing our "Mt Everest" is understanding the challenge.

One thing's for sure, you know the climb's not gonna be easy.

You're going to come across obstacles which you have never encountered before. Some parts are going to be rough. Some parts, slippery. The learning curve could be steep. The end results might not be what you expect. There would be tension; there would be stress; there could be tears. You might fall.

You might fail.

But on the other hand...what if you are able to succeed?

We are only able to grow if we are willing to break out of our 'comfort zone.' In reaching for that first handhold, by daring to try new things, in opening our minds to the possibility of trying AND succeeding, we will find ourselves automatically rising up to the challenge and expanding our capacities.

Positivity. Confidence. Self-Motivation.

We first need to climb the mountain in our minds.

Can I envision myself at the apex? Can I see how I will grow individually by going through the experience? Will making the decision to climb this mountain help me down the road when faced with an even taller mountain?

Sometimes by the time you actually get to it, the real-time experience is a breeze, in comparison to the first time you attempted it in your mind. They say that practicing an action mentally such as throwing a basketball is almost as effective as being physically on the basketball court with the big heavy orange ball in hand, aiming for the basket.

I don't mean that it'll be perfect once you've gone through it once in your mind. There are a lot of things that 'work' in theory but fall through when actually put into action, and that same idea applies here. But one cannot deny that a huge advantage lies in mental preparation.

I may not be able to see what or where the next mountain is, or anticipate the outcome of the climb, but I do know that when you finally conquer the mountain in front of you, you need to pause and savor the moment.

Because the taste of exhilarating victory will be SWEET.

But more than that.

Standing at the peak may be a brief moment, but the lessons learned through the experience can last a lifetime. Challenges challenge us to grow. We'll always be faced with mountains, and they will only get bigger from here. In dealing with the "Mount Everest" of our today, we not only broaden our minds and increase our confidence - we also store up experience that will be invaluable for the future.

What is your Mt Everest for today?

Don't just stand there and gawk and then turn away, afraid of failure.

Stand up, get the right mindset, and then go FACE YOUR MOUNTAIN.

And finally, whatever results you get from your climb whether satisfactory or less than, never regret your decision.

Once it is over, smile and move on.

That's how we'll get through life.

One step, one climb, one mountain at a time.

**She felt like putting the phone off the hook today, cause it wouldn't stop ringing**