The Mountain
Something a little different from my usual essays.
(First time article voiceover.)
You won’t get to see the view from the summit unless you’ve climbed the mountain.
The path is steep, and your legs burn with every step. The air is cold and harsh to the throat. Doubts whisper. You pause to catch your breath and feel someone watching you from the top.
Looking up, you see a figure.
They stand tall, proud and strong. The wind batters them, but they don’t flinch. The cold fog lifts just enough to reveal their face.
It’s you.
“Took you long enough,” they chuckle.
“Are you… me?” you ask.
They nod. “After you climb up here, yes. I am you.”
You stare at them, and they stare back, right down into the very bottom of you. They are everything you hope to be. And everything you’re not sure you can become.
“If you’re so strong, help me up,” you beg.
They shake their head. “How do you think I got this strong? And if I helped you, you’d never know what it means to have climbed this for yourself. I’ll see you when you get here.”
It would be easier to turn back. Maybe the valley below can provide some shelter for the night. Maybe you can rest your aching bones. Maybe you’ll climb this mountain another day. But you feel it now. You can’t go back. You’ve seen what you can become.
“How long will this take?” you ask.
They smile. Not with pity, but with a deep knowing.
“That’s something the mountain decides. Your job is to keep climbing.”
The wind howls.
The mountain waits.
Thank You.
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Nice brother! Any guidance on how to help people visualize positive versions of their future selves? Maybe a future post idea? I know there are times in my life where this post wouldn’t have resonated with me as much because I would have thought there was no me standing up there
“How do you think I got this strong?”…. I loved this, was exactly what I needed to hear