Saturday, September 24, 2011

The climb of life

There is one time during the year that I miss New England, and that is the fall. From playing football, soccer, drinking apple cider, my grandmothers donuts, and all sorts of other great memories flood my mind when I think of fall as a child.

One other semi tradition as a kid was climbing Mount Monadnock in the fall. Climbing mountains is one of the activities we don't have in the midwest. The first time I remember climbing it, was with a group from our church. The group was made of people of all ages.

As a little rugrat with a lot of energy my brother and I raced up the mountain. There was about four of us that went as fast as we could and beat the others from our group up the mountain by a large amount of time. As we were nearing the top it was about lunch time. We realized then that we didn't have our lunch with us, those in the back had been carrying all the food in their backpacks. So we had to sit and wait for awhile and wait for our lunch.

Everytime I climbed the mountain there was always a group that went up quickly, some that slowly but steadily climbed, some that meandered, and some that never made it to the top due to lack of physical fitness or being injured.

As I reminisce about these trips, I think about hiking up a mountain as a metaphor for life.

Recently I was speaking to a friend whose family went through a tragedy a few months prior. I asked him how he was doing in general? His response was to the effect of some days are ok, but most of the time the pain is just as strong as the day the tragedy occured.

Long term pain, or problems that can't be solved provide a dilema for most of us. The simple easy climb of life has changed, the energy of climbing has waned and the pace has slowed or even stopped.

The story for many of us doesn't change. How is Kyle? The question is frequently asked, what is our response? How are you guys doing? Again the response doesn't change. It is a long slow climb. The energy isn't what it use to be both physically and mentally.

There are many who start the climb of life out together but it gets too slow. It gets too tedious, we stop too many times, we may even sit in the same spot for a good while.

As others are able to leap big rocks with a single bound, the slight incline provides challenges for those with a limp. It doesn't mean we have quit or given up, it just means it takes us longer.

The limps and baggage that comes along with many of our journeys have changed us. But we continue.

It is different going from the one who raced up the hill to the one in the back that others are waiting for. Life has changed, but even as those in the back brought us lunch, hopefully as I get older and wiser I and others who have experienced difficulties in life can bring nurishment to those who may experience pain in the future.

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