Climbing The Impossible Mountain
Starting the climb is the hardest part. Not finishing the climb is the worse.
When we make a decision to achieve something, we fail. When we make the decision to achieve something and have courage, we succeed. Ever wonder what is that all about?
The other day I was watching the fish tank and thinking, I really got to clean it. Now when I do that task, this is less than 40 minutes of actual work. However, I put it off for two weeks or more, sometimes.
Read that one again, I put off 40 minutes of work time for 2 weeks or more sometimes.
The task has become a mountain, the more I look at it, and think about it, instead of just getting up and starting the work. Once I start the work, I don’t really feel a lot of work.
- The emotion behind the mountain
- Get up and do it
- Try a smaller mountain
The emotion behind the mountain
The mountain is not our biggest challenge. It’s the emotion that looking at the mountain gives us. It shows a long and hard trek through treacherous terrain and cold weather, to get to the summit.
We are looking a the top, then the part just below it, and then we keep going below. The task turns bigger, and bigger, and bigger. In the end the task becomes so big, we chicken out because: “We are not God, There is no way we can survive this climb.
We literally make a “mountain out of a molehill”. As you probably have guessed, the mountain is nothing more than imagery I’m trying to convey to describe what we do with regular tasks. My example, off course, is the fish tank cleaning task. It became a mountain for me. I cannot even get started on this. Yet it’s is not the worst task I have ever had to perform in my life.
This literally makes it like I’m about to step in quicksand when I take my first step. I made it into a situation when I can’t even get started.
Get up and do it
The mountain is there. It’s taunting you with thoughts to discourage you. It’s mocking you. It knows you cannot do it. It will win the day. It is your worst enemy, who you cannot ever fight against. Give up now. Maybe try again tomorrow/next week/next month/next year. I know you aren’t ready for this. You cannot do it.
Only way to win over all of that is is to get up and do it. Take the first step. Take the next one. Then the next one. Then the next one. Then the next one.
You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Before you know it, your mountain was really the size of the mole hill after all. You are done. You are no longer at the mercy of the taunting mountain. You are no longer the loser. You won. You conquered the mountain. You didn’t have to wait for tomorrow/next week/next month/next year. You did it.
How? Your got up and did it.
Simple isn’t it? Why then do we not apply this simple act to all our “mountains”? Why not conquer all that comes into our path. I love the best song by an artist I used to admire. It’s the climb by Miley Cyrus. It sums up pretty much what I’m trying to say here.
No one can promise you will succeed if the first step is taken. What can be promised is, if one learns from the failures, and takes different steps, one will succeed. It’s a guarantee. Only person who can stop you truly, is you.
Try a smaller mountain
The mountain will always be your enemy. Perhaps you truly aren’t ready to conquer that mountain. You aren’t ready for the goal you set. It feels too big. You are having so hard a time imagining yourself at the top of that mountain that you are backing away from even starting.
The first step is you have to say that you can
- Will Smith
Choose a smaller mountain. Choose one where you can actually see yourself at the top of. Now of course it’s a metaphor again. It means choose something smaller, but something you have never achieved before. Follow the steps I gave you earlier. Start moving towards that achievement. Start climbing that smaller mountain.
Give yourself new experiences, but do it just outside of your immediate comfort zone. Not so far that your fear is bigger than your curiosity. Honestly, bravery does not depend on your lack of fear. It just means your fear isn’t big enough to override your curiosity and hunger.
So choose a smaller mountain.
Success will truly only depend on if you give up at the first setback, or not. If you don’t, and you push through and resolve the setbacks, you will have grown.
You will have gained confidence in your ability to climb the smaller mountain.
Now go for the next bigger mountain (small mountain, but bigger than your first one). Then go for the next bigger mountain, and the next.
Do it, live your life beautifully with fulfillment. Always be thankful for all the smallest things and people you have in your life.
