A Mountain to Climb

Do you ever get those times when it feels that life is like climbing a mountain? With the run up to Christmas I can feel like this and have you noticed just when you think you've done it all, there's always a little bit more before you make it to the summit?  Two weekends ago, my family and I climbed a mountain in Bali with a group of friends and as I trudged my way upwards, the analogy came to mind that  life can sometimes feels like climbing a mountain.   As we climb, our incessant self talk says 'how much longer?';  'what it will be like in the next stage?'; 'can it get any worse?'; 'will I ever get there?'; 'I wish I was already there'; 'how come those other people are higher than us?' and in everyday life we can talk to ourselves like this too.

Early on the Saturday morning when I was preparing for our expedition into the mountains, I found myself doing the usual frenzied dash around the house sucking up all sorts of bits and pieces in my reach, like a supersonic vacuum cleaner that had gone out of control, while the rest of the family calmly 'hung out' until I was ready. How come they don't think about the practical things like toilet roll, tissues, toothpaste, towels etc, not to mention the water and snacks for the journey?!  My husband casually strolled over to me handing over his toothbrush and a couple of tee-shirts, proud of having done his bit to help with the packing and optimistically announced "let's go in the jeep." All else that he had to do was turn the ignition key. The sweat was dripping off my forehead and I was steaming like an overheated radiator. The last thing I wanted to do was ride in a hot jeep.

I preferred the easy option of jumping into our air conditioned car and know that we would arrive safely at our destination without breaking down. Although, at the same time, I was tempted by the thought of being adventurous in the jeep, but I knew that first we had to fight our way across the heavily traffic infested capital city of Bali, Denpasar - nightmare. My husband eagerly jumped into the jeep before I had time to debate our mode of transport. He attempted to start it but there was only a slight coughing response and then nothing. Secretly, I hoped that it wouldn't start at all and we'd have to take the easy option, but after the sixth attempt, it roared like a lion. My fete was decided. I had to re-pack all our luggage so that it was waterproof because when it rains, as it frequently does in the mountains, we can't rely on the jeep to keep our belongings dry!

After a long two hour struggle of nose to tail traffic through the bustling, noisy city, we made it to the cooler mountains. Even my teenage daughter with her teenage friends blasting out teenage music in the back of the jeep didn't faze me. As we drove in convoy, it was good to be moving after being stuck in hot, sweaty and dusty Denpasar for so long.

Finally, we relaxed at our hostel before our big climb the next day. As what can be typical for a Mum, my relaxation was short-lived. My 6 year old daughter's trainers were wet, so I put them out in the sun to dry.  They were drying nicely when suddenly we had a tropical rainstorm.  Having forgotten completely about them, while I was happily sheltering from the rain, my daughter asked me, "Mummy should my shoes be out in the rain like that?"  I ran outside to rescue them but it was too late - they were absolutely drenched, so was I and she wouldn't be wearing her trainers for climbing.

The next day when we were starting out on our ascent, my daughter curiously asked, "Mummy why does everybody else have trainers or boots when I only have my flip-flops?"

Searching for something motivating to say, I noticed that our Balinese guide only had flip-flops on - he also had no teeth when he smiled but this was beside the point.

"Our guide has flip-flops on, if he can do it, you can do it too." I asserted encouragingly, noting the fact to myself that he most probably scaled up and down this mountain at least on a daily basis.

It was a challenge climbing a mountain with a 6 year old, who happened to be the youngest in the group and who spent most of her time slipping back down the mountain rather than up because her flip-flops had no grip. What seemed like every few seconds, my daughter asked, "are we nearly there yet?" alternating with, "I can't do this," to 'how much further?" My patience was running out but having endured so much to get to the mountains in the first place, I was determined to make it to the top.

Not knowing how much further, how much more difficult, when or if we were going to make it, we eventually reached a point where there was a little stone temple surrounded by a low wall - the Balinese see the mountains as very sacred and have temples to mark each stage of the mountain as well as at the top. We could climb no further.  We had made it.  The view was breathtaking. It was worth the struggle.

My daughter was so proud of her victory, she estatically ran all the way down the mountain barefoot because her flip-flops were slowing her down! She was one of the first to arrive at the bottom.  Her face beamed with delight and now she knows she can conquer anything.

In life too, it's good to push ourselves a little further and not give in to limiting self talk.  As Edmund Hilary, the first to successfully climb Mount Everest said:-


"It's not the mountain we conquer but ourselves."



Keep on climbing those mountains and conquering yourself.

Janet