Life’s An Infinite Range Of Mountains, Not A Finite Marathon!
My Personal Story
Remember how we used to hide under the covers becue we thought there were monsters under our bed and we did not want them to scare or consume us? Don’t worry, we all have those monsters, including me. Sometimes they stay with us for a long time, but other times, we can get rid of these monsters over time & experience.
But that monster of mine began when I was only 2 weeks old. When I was about 7 years old, I found some old scrapbooks that were filled with photos of my past. I tried to pull one of these scrapbooks out, but instead of pulling the scrapbook I wanted to pick, a black scrapbook fell onto the ground. Out of curiosity, I opened it. And that’s when I was introduced to my “evil” monster companion. He was there ever since I was 2 weeks old.
When I was born, the doctors realized I was struggling to breathe, and when they scanned me, there was a disaster. I was diagnosed with Supercardiac Total Anomalous Venous Return (TAPVR). In simple terms, the blood vessels returning from the lungs were partially to totally disconnected to my heart. Oxygen-rich blood does not return from the lungs to the left atrium. Instead, the oxygen-rich blood returns to the right side of the heart. I had to undergo emergency surgery in an attempt to save my life.
The monster was coming to consume me and my life. Long story short: I lived. But not without a scar from my monster.
How do I live in my body? A body that has been given an early “death sentence” before I was able to truly live my life to its fullest?
After a few weeks, I felt sad, because now I thought my only obligation was to survive. I was scared of doing any physical activities or heights because I felt my heart was going to explode.
A few weeks later, I decided to open up the scrapbook once again, and I was surprised to find a napkin at the beginning of the page. I started to read it, and once I was done, I realized that life was not over for me, it was my mind that made me believe that I only had one sprint in life.
Life’s A Mountain, Not A Marathon!
I had closed down a lot of my options because my mind was only focused on why I can’t do certain things to my full potential because of the surgery. When we narrow our decisions and options to live life, we are running a marathon/sprint. But when we look around at our options, we notice that it looks like mountain ranges: endless possibilities to choose from; each mountain with its own challenges and rewards.
But why not a Marathon? I thought Mountains are harder than Marathons, Carlos.
Well, running & mountain climbing both have two things in common:
1. It exhausts you physically and mentally.
2. There is an end; a summit; a finish line.
But here is the difference between the mountain & a marathon. In a marathon, the finish line will be there, it’s a given. But with a mountain, there is no finish line waiting for you. Your mind will decide when to stop and “create” the finish line for you. And this is what my mind has been doing to me for so long, it created this monster that made me look at life as a marathon.
But other characteristics differ between a marathon & a mountain?
Marathon
In a marathon, there are certain streets that are taped so that only the marathoners can run 42.1 kilometers or 26.2 miles in that path. It is a long, narrow path towards the finish line. Also, you cannot take a different path from the rest of the crowd, you must follow the common, conventional path.
If you look around while you’re running (which I suggest you shouldn’t do unless you want to trip and sprain your ankle), you notice that there is only one way you can go, and that is forward. With running, you can always stop and get a glass of water as your support; someone can aid you towards the finish line, but cannot help you to the finish line, and that is temporary support. You have a number that was given to you before the race, and you can’t change it, as if there is no significance in the number except classifying you.
Once you cross the finish line, you’re done with the race. You don’t need to run anymore. You can sign up for as many marathons as you want, but you are only running for 42.1 kilometers or 26.2 miles for every marathon you do, including the triathlons (Sprint, Standard, Olympic, and the Ironman Triathlons.) You are not challenging yourself to do more miles/kilometers when you do these runs, you can only go so far. Next, in a marathon, you are running by yourself. You are not working as a team or with anyone else to try and win. You are just trying to taste that gold medal shining around your neck.
Finally, when you are running, my assumption is that you are not really paying attention to the view, you are mostly focusing on reaching the end of the finish line.
Mountains
In a mountain, there are 6 ways to look: You can look to the Left, Right, Forward, Backward, Up, and Down. More possibilities to pick the direction you want to take. When deciding to climb up a mountain, there are no mountains that are taped up for reservation; you can pick whichever mountain that you want to climb and attempt to reach the top. Sometimes, the mountain can be no more than 300 meters, or it can be Mount Everest (8,848.86 meters).
Secondly, there are just as many mountains as there are marathons, but each mountain can become higher, steeper, or demand excessive equipment or strength. Each mountain increases in difficulty, which requires exponential growth and progress to climb the next mountain/obstacle that holds us back from reaching the top. With a mountain, you can have both temporary support and permanent support. The temporary support can be from the landscape of the mountain itself, maybe a robust rock will be where you place your foot next. The permanent support can be someone who is with you to climb the mountain or your gear/equipment to stabilize you on your climb to the top of the mountain.
The next point is that when climbing a mountain, you have the choice of climbing on your own or with someone else. Support, life-savior, or even for motivation, bring that extra person along for the climb. (It’s always better to have more than 2 people!). Next, you have to watch your step when climbing a mountain, you do not want to step on the wrong rock or snow that could trigger an avalanche or makes you fall off the mountain. Feel the Earth, and feel those footsteps guide you to the top.
Congratulations, reader. You have reached the top of one mountain. One monster is eliminated. Now find another mountain (or monster) to get rid of.
The Outcome
Now that I applied this to my life, it has allowed me to think of my open-heart surgery as one of those mountains that may take my entire life to climb. But I know if I can climb at least one step higher than what I did yesterday, I am one step closer to happiness and getting rid of the monster that has haunted me all these years. I am still trying to enhance my mental models, but I would say to just enjoy the process rather than focusing on the outcome of getting to the top as fast as possible.
Savor and feel your feet stepping on the terrain one step at a time. Look around you and see a new perspective. Enjoy that perspective. You will never get back the experience of climbing that mountain ever again.
Now, I invite you to climb your obstacles. Not with the intent to get to the top before me, but to enjoy the process and enjoy the view. Apply the mental model. Once you take in the view, start climbing again. Look around once more. Climb. Repeat. Say good-bye to those monsters… Although it never hurts to have a flashlight with you… but I’ll see you at the top.
