If there is one thing that I have noticed about hiking mountains, it is that they are extremely uphill. Seriously, you do not fully grasp the reality of how steep, ragged, and breathtaking mountains are until you are trekking up one. This realization also applies to the mountains of our lives when we attempt to overcome the obstacles that we are continually faced with.
As I was somewhat spontaneously hiking up a mountain that is a little over 2,000 feet tall, I could not help but think about the difficulties in life that we tend to underestimate. For instance, as we got closer and closer to the top, my lack of enthusiasm kept decreasing in that I was losing energy and motivation to finish. The top of the mountain was covered in fog, so I started to question why we were continuing on if we would not be able to see the beautiful view at the top. I started getting a little bitter about why we hiked the extra half a mile in fog just to stand on top of a completely cloud-covered mountain.
And then it hit me.
We did not climb up 2,000 feet, 3.5 miles, and for two hours just to turn around because of some fog. I had deceived myself into thinking that because we would not be able to see exactly how much we had accomplished, that I would not feel as content with the effort that was put into this hike. We get so used to being able to actively track and see how far we have come, that doing something that prevents this visible progress scares us and makes us rethink what we are doing.
When we finally arrived at the top of the mountain, I still got that excited feeling of accomplishment and sense of success. Even though I could not see the whole island, or even the trail that we had climbed up, I still knew that we had powered up the mountain. Miley Cyrus' "The Climb" could not have been more relevant in that moment.
We often go through this deceit with the problems we face in life. For example, it is easier for us to want to give up when we do not know what lies ahead. We fool ourselves into thinking that because our problems are somewhat unpredictable and uncontrollable, that we cannot overcome them and that we will not gain much from doing so. The fact of the matter is that most of our problems will be this way. Most of our mountains will be covered, and we will not always get the luxury of seeing the progress that we have made.
Although it is significant and sometimes necessary to look back and see how far we have come, it is also important to look ahead and realize that we are not able to control everything. Stay positive and keep climbing!
