To Stand Alone
I like to think that people going through life together are like hikers summiting a great mountain. Eventually, in reaching the summit of one mountain, the group reaches a moment of decision. Each member can decide many things: to go back down the mountain, to soak in the view, or to trip over a rock and plummet to their death.
Figuratively, of course.
I’ve been apart of many summits. I’ve seen many people trip and fall — and the worst part, they try to grab my ankle on the way down.
I used to be caught unaware every time this happened. I’d fall, slam my head on a boulder halfway down, twist my ankle and fracture my femur. At the base of the slope, I’d be a broken mess in a pile with other broken messes.
It took many years to learn that I don’t need to fall down with others. When people try to dispose of you, envy you, or create some vendetta against you, you don’t have to join them on the race to the bottom.
You can take that bitter air in at the summit.
You can continue to gaze upon snow-capped peaks in the distance, planning your next course.
You can appreciate that loneliness, that solitude and brief moment of invincibility.
You can stand alone.
