We all know that life can be tough.
But if you ever find yourself feeling lost, remember that all you have to do is look up, stay the course and the peak will soon be within your grasp.
No matter how long it takes or how hard life becomes, don’t give up. Stay determined to understand whatever obstructions come your way.
The interesting thing about mountain climbing as a metaphor for life’s challenging moments is that the summit isn’t the hardest place to reach. In fact, the most challenging part of a mountain is the descent.
As evident in the history of the fierce range of the K2, one of the most grueling climbs imaginable, the majority of climbers who died did so on the way down.
One in four climbers who summited its peak did not make it down alive.
In the mountains, the elements are extreme, unpredictable, and harsh. You can set your goal, train, and think that you are prepared for the excursion, but you are always at the mercy of the unexpected and uncontrollable:
Weather can change, winds can burst in new directions, and sunlight can quickly darken by cloud cover.
Ice might fall and break your line.
You might have fixed the rope too early on and not saved it for the more difficult parts of the course.
You can become entangled with the very ropes that bring you to safety.
Or have shards of ice fall on your ropes, split them apart, and render them useless.
Or you might become deprived of oxygen for too long, become hypoxic, start to act erratically, miss a step, and helplessly tumble down the side of the peak to your death.
These sobering obstacles remind me of an important life lesson: It’s not so much if you do something, but how you do it.
“By climbing mountains, we were not learning how big we were. We were finding out how breakable, how weak and how full of fear we are” ( – Reinhold Messner)
The summit is just one point on your journey; you might have a goal in mind, or an expectation, or a deep desire, but life will never happen the way we expect.
Why would it?
Instead, an important question to ask yourself is: what is your overriding sense of purpose that guides you through the course of life? Especially when things go sideways?
When obstacles present themselves, these moments of uncontrollable reckoning can be even more insightful than reaching the summit, if you can make it through.
They can alter our ideas of success and achievement.
The important thing is to never lose that deep connection that you have with your inner guiding force.
In times of trepidation, this awareness will ultimately help you keep going.
The challenge is not to get to the summit, but to stay on the mountain, come down safely, and live to tell the tale.
It’s all a mindset.
But what if you could change how you approach challenging and unexpected moments?
The truth is, most of us never realize how much power and potential lies within us when we face difficulties.
We can easily become bogged down by continuous conditioning from society, the media, our education system, and more.
We can think that a challenge is too daunting and talk ourselves out of it.
The result?
We miss opportunities to grow. We choose the path of least resistance and stay in a state of fear or ambivalence.
And ultimately, the reality we create becomes detached from the reality that lives within our consciousness.
I learned this from the insightful shaman Rudá Iandé. In this free video, he explains how you can lift the mental chains and get back to the core of your being so that you are free to face all of life before you.
A word of caution – this isn’t your typical experience.
He doesn’t paint a pretty picture or sprouts toxic positivity like so many other teachers do.
Instead, he’s going to invite you to look inwards. He’s going to ask you to confront the demons and obstacles within. He will help you to find the unexpected places where you might tumble and see how you react when you do.
It’s a powerful approach, but one that works.
So, if you’re ready to take this first step and align your dreams with your reality. If you are ready to climb an inner mountain that will better prepare you for external challenges, there’s no better place to start than with Rudá’s unique technique
Here’s a link to the free video again.
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