Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Lessons from Mt. Halla

Climbing up Mt. Halla and then hiking back down again was, in its essence, a ten-hour lesson in “Just One Step at a Time.”

We took the hardest trail up, and it involved climbing up steep trails made of volcanic rocks, mounting long sets of wooden stairs, and even at some points crossing boggy water using massive (not manmade) stones. The trail went up and on forever, but it twisted its way up and varied its construction such that it felt broken into smaller pieces. A long, steep climb of rocks lay dead ahead, but after that you'd see no more, so you could tell yourself, “Just get up these rocks.” There was always a short term end in sight, so it didn't seem so hopeless. And because you had to focus on your footing, one step at a time, judging how to hit the rocks, you couldn't really look ahead to see how far you had to go. You just kept going, on and on, and eventually the course would change and you'd be in the next stretch up.

It reminded me of life. Sometimes you can't think about how far you have to go - the task is too enormous. But you can see the end of this small stretch, and you can decide where you will stand, choosing each foundation carefully, one step at a time.