climb

He stands at the foot of the mountain and stares at the challenge that lies before him. He’s very confident and even a little cocky that he will conquer the mountain. Two days later and he’s made great progress, but it’s not as easy as he thought. A week later he reaches the halfway mark. Unfortunately he’s depleted more than half his strength and resolve.

A fellow climber spots something strange in his backpack… “Why do you have a fire extinguisher in your backpack?” He smiles “I used to be a fireman.” His answer is met with a raised eyebrow and a WTF expression. “Okay… and what is the calculator for?” “When I was writing my finals, I forgot my calculator at home. I did very badly and that maths mark has haunted me since.” Now the stranger has two raised eyebrows… “Okay… and how about that big gift wrapped box?” Sadness fills his eyes “My last girlfriend dumped me because I forgot her birthday.”

____________________

I know what you’re thinking… No one will carry so much from their past with them when they are trying to climb a mountain... no one is that stupid! Or are we? The beginning of a year is a good time to look forward and plan ahead, perhaps even decide what mountain(s) to climb. For me it’s also a good time to look back and let go.

Sometimes we carry terrible baggage around with us. So now I look back at the mistakes I made and say: “Yip, I did that… it was stupid. But it’s not who I am anymore. I won’t allow it to define me, and I won’t allow the memory of who I was spoil the possibilities of who I want to be.”

It's much easier to go forward if you stop looking back.