The Climb

You know, I have really no clue what influenced me to write the phrase below. I was sitting here one afternoon about a month ago and I found myself in a reflective mood. I realized that too often, people make rash short-term decisions without thinking about the future. Too often, people think they know what they want in life or think they know everything when in reality they have no idea what they want and their perception of the world is way too narrow.Too often, people settle for what they have rather than pushing themselves to achieve their best. I think that everything happens for a reason and rarely will we know what that reason is until after the fact. Not until we've reached the end of life's journey will we be able to look back with near-certainty and determine why an event happened or why someone came into our life. Rock climbing seemed like a good analogy (something I rarely do, but I do enjoy)... specifically, outdoor rock climbing. I don't think this is what I would consider a final version, and someday I'd like to touch it up, but here it is:

Fate and life, I believe.... is like climbing the side of a mountain. Everytime we hoist ourselves on the next rock, we're convinced that we can see everything in life for what it is because we're one rock higher than we were before. We think that the spot we are standing on is where we're meant to be. When we make it to stable, flat rocks we stand our ground and think 'this must be where I should be for I could stand here forever, why bother with the jagged, unstable rocks ahead of me?' These rocks can be people, places, or many other things...but you see, we're not meant to stand still. As human beings, we're meant to keep climbing, to keep looking ahead. You see, those rocks are the means to an end and not the end in themselves. We never know why we choose the rocks that we choose until we get to the top. It's not until then that we know what our fate is. So stop worrying about what's at the top or why you're on any specific rock, you'll find out soon enough. Life is about the climb.