It's the climb.

Let’s start with mountain climbing.
You might not consider yourself a mountain climber, given you’ve never actually hiked one, but let me assure you: you are one.

Because even if not actual mountains, you’ve sure braved many a metaphorical one. Especially the ones you didn’t sign up for.

As we go through life, we run into quite a few mountains.
Some are put in front of us.
Some we decide to climb.
And others show up when we least expect them.

But the good news is they’re all mountains.
And if you’ve summited even one, you’ve already got what it takes to climb a few more. All you need now is the hydration of belief because even the best climbers get thirsty.

So, let’s focus on what we control.
Which means, now onto the mountains you choose to climb.

You chose them because they’re a good use of your time, and you already have a good enough story as to why that particular mountain matters, which is why it’s on your radar to begin with.

But as you begin the climb, you notice there may be more mountains competing for your attention. And of course, being the kind, generous humans we are, we happily give a slice of our focus to each one.

And so begins the age-old trade-offs. Once again, priorities compete.

What starts as a climb becomes an attempt; what could have been a summit becomes a story of "turned back too early"

We set out with the intention of doing greater things with our lives. We could have been the ones to give the mountain a new story to witness for a change. Alas, we turned out to be just like the rest of the cogs.

But hey, a lot of factors are at play. I'll give that to us.

1. What we set out to do often starts feeling like a bad idea midway through, especially when we don’t see immediate results.
2. Sure, we began this new journey, but we did it with the same old habits and strategies—ones that barely come in handy anymore.
3. Maybe we started feeling lonely along the way, watching everyone else partying up the socially accepted mountain, having a ball, while we were scratching our nails to hike up the one that felt right to us.
4. Or perhaps we’re pulling too hard to resolve the tension between the desire to belong and the desire to grow.

What a relentless+ loaded internal battle!

Watching people plant their flags at the summit leaves you inspired. "If they can, I can too," you tell yourself. But there's a trap here. We see the victory, not the thousand sacrifices it took to get there: It’s trusting the process when the results aren’t there yet. It’s getting rejected, again and again, and still showing up. It’s choosing the hard work, the real work, over the shortcuts that go nowhere.

We ignore the journey because it happened offstage. And what we don't see, we can't foresee.

It’s not glamorous, it’s clearly not easy, and it’s definitely not what we see when we look at the flag on the summit.

But if there’s one thing that people who have spent their lives choosing the easier mountains will tell you, it’s this: The pain of regret lasts far longer than the pain of the climb. And the regret isn’t just about the goals you didn’t reach. It’s also about the person you didn’t become.

The more you want something to be true, the truer it starts to seem.

1. If you want to believe coffee is the source of your joy, you’ll notice every moment it makes you feel good and ignore the times it doesn’t.
2. If you want to believe that having loads of cash will solve all your problems, you’ll focus on the fleeting highs of buying something new and overlook the emptiness that lingers after.
3. If you want to believe that social media fame will validate your worth, you’ll count the likes and ignore the hollowness of applause from strangers.

We see what we want to see. But the real work doesn’t even begin until we stop chasing the illusion.

And just so you know, we seldom have moments where we're fully utilised.

But here's some good news.

In real life it's not that complicated to be a superhero, because here you don't have to do things others can't do, but simply things others won't do.

[By the way, I wrote “Get to the point” at the top of this page as a reminder to, well, get to the point. But here we are, having written a long-winded article to just say this: Choose the fairly tougher mountain to reach the “peak” point in your life. :)]

Best,

Thewordsandwalls.