MOUNTAINS AS METAPHORS (OR WHY I CLIMB MOUNTAINS WHEN I HAVE NO TIME TO CLIMB MOUNTAINS)

Photo Credit: Beth Thompson

The prevailing definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again hoping for different results. OK, yes. I would argue that a second and equally valid definition of insanity is failing to do the thing over and over again that you know guarantees different results.

I’m talking about self-care. I’m talking about the fact that we KNOW going for a run/seeing live music/going to a yoga class/spending an hour painting/reading/writing/playing your guitar makes your body, spirit and life infinitely better. Except you’re not doing it.

We know this “thing” (or combination of “things”) has the power to lift us up and out of low times; that it can transport us out of ourselves, provide needed perspective and offer untethered joy – and yet…. the scourge of “busy” prevails, and somehow we can lose two hours scrolling through our social media channels yet don’t have time to do the thing we know feeds and expands us. Like that.

Climbing mountains has become one of the main portals to improving everything for me. But who has the time? No one, that’s who!! Climbing takes a full day - like 8 or 9 (or more) hours. That’s a big block of life to commit to something that’s not, for instance, going to help feed your family, get the laundry done or build your business. Except it kind of is.  

I climbed my first mountain just a year ago. Consequently, I have a bit of the evangelical enthusiasm of the newly converted, I admit. But this:

8 WAYS CLIMBING IS A METAPHOR FOR LIFE and BUSINESS

1. MEDITATION DOESN’T ALWAYS “LOOK” LIKE “MEDITATION”

By now, we all know the value of meditation. About how we should all be doing it for at least 10 minutes twice a day and more is better…? Yeah, that.

Loads of data proves mediation boosts health and happiness, helps with anxiety and stress management, promotes creativity and physically causes you to grow more grey matter!

To which I say –“blah, blah, blah… “

Yes, I’m going to meditation jail.

The inherent value of meditation is all fine and well, but if you’re a high energy person like myself, sitting for 10 minutes twice a day doing nothing is Herculean. I know. I’ve tried it. Lots. The result is that I’d rather have less grey matter and grow health in happiness in other ways. Hey, I never said I was smart. (Clearly I need to meditate more)

But climbing…

Especially for the first, few kilometers (and often again the last), the effort is such that my “monkey mind” simply dissolves; my eyes are down and my head is empty of everything but the next step. I am entirely in the moment. I am transported out of my head and fully into my body – a conversion for me that is a small miracle.

So far in my life, 10 minutes in a chair hasn’t been able to give me the kind of empty, inner, flat-ass-prairie-horizon that climbing has.

You don’t need to sit. Like an inner leaf-blower, if playing the piano, cycling or drawing has the ability to clear your head, that is meditation.  Do that more, and reap all the science-based benefits of meditating. (“Blow” your own mind!)

move the body, still the mind

2. CELEBRATE YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS!

As someone who spends an inordinate amount of time in her head, it is far easier for me to talk about a feeling, than it is to actually feel a feeling. And I struggle with letting myself celebrate my wins, big or small. And by struggle, I mean, I don’t.

I always seem to focus on how far there is yet to go, rather than acknowledging how far I’ve come.

Standing on the top of a mountain is not an intellectual exercise, and this is a gift. With the risk of flakiness, I’ve got to say that my heart feels so goddamned full and expansive when I climb that it has moved me to tears. Like unfolding a giant paper lantern, this thing that feels so much smaller and compressed when I begin, ends up beautifully – impossibly - large and light. Perspective is self-evident and a quiet bit of self-applause is effortless: LOOK WHAT I JUST DID!!!

The secret to celebration: feel more; think less.

On a mountaintop I am always, ALWAYS filled with a wellspring of love, uninhibited joy and profound gratitude for the friends I am climbing with, for our absurdly gorgeous planet, and most surprisingly – for myself.

3. DO THE THING YOU THINK YOU CANNOT DO

I never thought I could climb a mountain; was a little afraid of the idea and doubted I could.

And then I did!

Every time I summit I think “Holy SHIT! I just climbed a FREAKING MOUNTAIN!

We are all capable of more than we believe, if only we would just TRY. For so many of us, we are afraid of even the attempt. What’s crazy is that the only real risk is that you never see the top of anything; you never learn your true capacity; you stay at the bottom of your life. Which is completely fine, if that’s where you want to live. Unless it’s not.

In which case, reinvent yourself as someone brave! Life offers endless do-overs, and we can start again any day. Thank God.

Overcome the BS in your head. Do the thing you think you cannot do. Let your body carry you there. You are stronger than you know. Trust yourself more.

4. DON’T FEEL DEFEATED BEFORE YOU START BY LOOKING AT HOW FAR YOU HAVE TO GO

When you are hiking, especially when starting out, you don’t look at the top. You keep your head down. While the peak always looks a little bit crazy and impossible, for practical reasons you keep your eyes on your feet so you don’t trip and fall. When you want to look around or at the top, you stop intentionally. You take a minute to admire the view; chat with your friends; have a snack. When you start again, you put your head down and march.

In my life and business I’ve taken to reminding myself: Don’t fixate on the impossible top or how you’re going to get there - look down at the next, good step up.  As Oprah says, only consider what the “next right move” is. Then the next right move. And so on. That is climbing.   

Don’t worry about how you’re going to reach the peak. Trust that considered, forward motion will get you there.  Stop and look around occasionally (Have a vision! Learn something! Do research! Eat!), but then put your head down and move.

Trust you will get there because….

5. ALL PATHS LEAD TO THE TOP

It’s a truism of Buddhist principle: There are many ways up the mountain! While some routes are easier than others, all paths are “right.”

When hiking we almost always get lost at least once. We lose sight of the trail, miss the small rock cairn or get so immersed in looking down at our feet that we forget to look up and scan for our route. But I have come to learn and trust that as long as you keep forward motion; as long as you keep pointed up and putting one foot in front of the other “all paths lead to the top.”

You often create your own route, which can sometimes be awkward too. With focused effort, however, you always arrive where you want to be. That said….

6. IT’S NOT ALL STRAIGHT UP

There are “down-bits” in every climb as you work your way to the top. Perspective is everything: In life “down” feels like defeat. In climbing, it’s considered a rest - before heading up again.

7. STARTING – AND FINISHING – IS ALWAYS HARDEST

Getting started, like most things in life, takes the greatest effort (damn you, physics!). When climbing, the first few kilometers are also often the steepest – and if they’re not, they sure feel like it. Momentum of a sort eventually takes over, and as you grow accustomed to the effort you move faster; you settle in for the climb. Steep doesn’t seem so steep after awhile.

Until you’re near the top, where it often gets hard again: It’s the final push and you’re tired. Or scared.

Life, much??

Don’t quit. Dig deep and see the vista. It’s ALWAYS worth it. And it’s inexplicably energizing when you should be beat.

Often what keeps you going is the encouragement of fabulous, like-minded and loving friends…

8. THE JOURNEY IS ONLY REALLY FUN – AND SAFE – IN THE COMPANY OF HAPPY, SUPPORTIVE PEOPLE

It is not safe to scale a mountain alone. The potential for danger is ever-present (bears, falling). And it’s most fun when you’re with people you like and trust.

Like most journeys, having a squad with you who has your back; who encourage, cheer and laugh with – and at – you, make all mountaintops attainable.

The wisdom of a climb can linger for weeks, and I draw on it like a smoker after a long flight when I need to. That deep inhale keeps me motivated in my “real” life, and reminds me who I am. Cheap at twice the number of hours!

Climbing has expanded my consciousness in remarkable and surprising ways. Do the thing you know does the same for you. See the band, dig in the dirt, get out in your kayak, climb the mountain… Pay yourself first! Invest in your joy and well-being. MAKE the time. It’s money in the Rest-Of-Your-Life-Bank.

Photo Credit: Heather J Miller