Monday, March 08, 2010

The Art of Mountaineering - (climbing the mountains in life)


I am not Edmund Hillary or Tensing Norgay and no I am not talking about climbing up a real mountain. But then everything else in life is a mountain to conquer. Most of us look at the sheer height of the mountains to climb and get overwhelmed so much so that we are so paralysed that we do not even have the courage or will to take the first step.

Every task/venture/mission we take looks like a mountain first. But an experienced mountaineer knows that every mountain can be broken down to peaks,mounds and steps.Instead of being overwhelmed and numbed by the sheer size of the mountain, he quickly gets to work. He finds out as to what parameters are available and how he can make the most of those. The mountaineer makes calculations of the height, the effort estimate etc. and makes a list of things needed.

I like a dialogue in "Lord of the Rings" where the hobbit who has to take the ring to its culmination stops numb thinking about the sheer difficult of the task. He says "its impossible". But his friend says "Yes it looks impossible, but then lets atleast try to reach the next mountain for starters". They then go on and reach the destination.

There are many unknowns but nevetheless make the first step. Every task starts with the first step, then mound after mound, peak after peak till we reach the final destination. I will not say every mountain can be conquered but then it is better to make an effort and fail rather than attempting at all. This is because failures are the greatest teachers.

And the tools for mountaineering are 4P's.
Patience is a virtue,
Perseverence is an art,
Persistence is the key,
Know always that perfection is a myth.

In the end, there may be many wars lost but the key is to win the battle. And winning the battle means learning lessons. We may have scars, we may be battered and bruised, we might succeed or fail but the sweet taste of the "salty sweat of effort" is priceless and more satisfying than anything else.Above all make sure to enjoy the journey also. No mountain is beautiful if you have just reached the peak and not enjoyed the beauty of the mountain.

Sing heigh ho Sing Heigh ho there is no time to be sorry, this life is jolly !!!