# 254 – Another Mountain

Another Mountain (03-30-09)

The darkness of pre-dawn was gradually, imperceptibly illumined by the, as yet, clandestine morning, creating a half-light as the rising sun reached up over the edge of the horizon to cast the sky in a band of crimson. It was as though the dome of the heavens was pouring out its life’s blood over the earth in sacrifice to renew the world for yet another day.

He stood there in the chill morning air and looked up to see it towering above him, black and ominous as it was silhouetted against the dawn. This was his destination. This was his direction. This was his goal. This was his mountain to climb. The journey would take days, perhaps weeks, but he had prepared well and the task ahead was both foreboding and welcoming.

He set out into the foothills for what was initially an easy climb, all the while knowing that there would be trials and difficulties ahead. As the day wore on, that knowledge proved to be singularly true when the agreeable slope steepened and the grassy terrain gave way to rock and ravine. And yet, this did not deter him. This was the reason for the climb. This was the challenge. The exhilaration of that first day carried him far and as night began to assert its dominion, he settled down for a well-deserved meal and rest, pleased with his progress and confident in his abilities to continue on in the morning.

Morning came all too soon and day followed day, with arduous progress and disappointing setbacks. He waged a constant battle with the cold, the pain, the exhaustion and the loneliness. More than once he had reached a ledge or plateau, only to look up, see the peak rising above him, and realize how far he had yet to climb. But, looking down to the distant valley below, he would realize, as well, how far he had come, how much of the journey he had already completed. And that knowledge gave him the strength to move on, and move on he did. Before long the day came, the moment arrived, when the summit was within reach. He had merely to take those last few steps. All the hard work and the trials were but a memory, the stuff of stories to be told to friends and companions around a warm fire someday.

As he made that last effort he was urged on with a sense of pride and of accomplishment, but troubled as well. The journey would be over and the trophy won, but mixed with his supreme elation was the nagging disappointment that it was ended and done with. The descent would be routine, almost mundane. Standing now at the apex of a journey that had consumed his energies for so many days, what, now, was there for him?

As the mists of dawn were dispelled and the air became clear, there in the distance, was his answer. Reaching up to catch the first rays of the morning sun and crowned in its glow, was . . . another mountain.

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Copyright 2004-2009 John R. Gesselberty. Mahler's Monday Morning Motivators (MMMM) may not be copied or used without permission of the author. All rights reserved.