Yesterday our son Jonathan and I
climbed Mt Washington, the highest point in the Northeast.
The trail went straight up—
so steep at one point there’s a ladder.
It was brutal. It was beautiful.
Up top it was frigid, windy, and spectacular,
and worth it.
But what I treasure is the going up and the coming down.
Mountaintop experiences seldom happen on the mountaintop.
They happen along the way,
in the ordinary places, in the hard places,
where we give ourselves over
to where we are, to what we are doing, to what is happening.
A mountaintop that keeps going on is just a plateau.
Don’t seek mountaintop experiences; just experience.
The whole mountain is as blessed as the top.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net