One Step at a Time

This weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to hike some of the most beautiful pyramids in the world. The third highest pyramids to be exact. It was daunting pulling our car up to these tall mountains knowing that I would have to climb to the very top. It was not going to be an easy task, that was for sure. See, after I got really sick last year I got diagnosed with asthma and hiking higher elevations is difficult, especially the farther high you go. I didn’t bring my inhaler on purpose because I made myself a goal that I would conquer this asthma with exercising and doing strenuous activities. It was something that might seem small to you, but for me it’s something I can overcome and there’s no better feeling.

After we parked our car, we walked up to the tallest pyramid-The Sun. This pyramid was built in honor of the Sun God, the most important God to the Aztecs so they built it the tallest and closest to the sun. My first impression of the pyramid from below was how amazing the structure this pyramid was. It was all handmade with no modern-day tools we have today. It was crafted by the genius minds of the Aztecs and somehow thousands of years later it was still beautifully formed. Then I saw the steps. There were hundreds to get to the top and these were not any sort of easy type of steps. They were each about a foot apart making you take giant leaps to get to the next step. The Aztecs did this on purpose because they wanted to make you humble towards the Gods by the time you got to the top. There was a part of me that didn’t want to do it, but I knew the reward would be so much better. As I climbed each step, I kept telling myself, “One step at a time.” I never looked up because that seemed impossible, so far away and my lungs were telling me they were done. I looked down at my current step and took the next one, and then the next one, and then the next one. I was about three quarters of the way up and suddenly the steps got even wider and narrower. Instead of the steps being one foot apart, they were about two feet apart now. My legs were screaming and I was out of breath, but I kept going. That was most important, to never give up. I got to the top and the view was mind blowing. It was much more beautiful than it was below and I was speechless at the sights around me. I have never seen anything like this before in all of my travels. It was something no picture or video could do justice. It made the climb 100% worth it. The journey up was hard, but that made the view at the top so much sweeter. After I climbed that pyramid, I knew I could do any of the others. I climbed all of the pyramids that day totaling in 11,076 steps and 41 floors climbed. It was one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. I not only conquered the pyramids; I conquered my mind.

Conquering the Sun pyramid

I believe we all have these stories in our lives. It may be a task, a project or just something that feels nearly impossible. We see something that looks so big that we don’t want to do it. We want to give up before we even start because we just believe we cannot do it. I challenge you to take that object with a 120% and go for it. I am not saying the journey will be easy, actually it will probably be extremely hard. The more you get into it the harder it will get. Just like me climbing those steps. 1 foot turned into 2 feet. But that’s when you need to give it all got and reach to the top. Because the reward will be so incredibly worth it. I promise. You may find yourself all the way down again, but always try again. Edison took how many tries to light the light bulb? 1000. He never gave up; he took it one step at a time. Unfortunately, life isn’t perfect. That’s just how it is and we ALL are going to have these seeming impossible tasks in our lives. It’s what we do with these “impossible tasks” that makes us the person that we are. Because nothing is impossible. I want each of you to think about that “impossible task” in your life. Are you going to let it defeat you or are you going to defeat it?

And to end here is my quote of the week: “Difficult roads lead to BEAUTIFUL destinations” — unknown

In front of the Moon pyramid