Mountains
Conquering
this mountain has always been a dream.
You don’t know if you’re ready but you’re going for it. You’re scared to death. Just taking baby
steps is all you can do, so you get started.
It’s a hot day. You can feel the sun beating down and you can smell the
fresh mountain air. Today will be a good day. After a while, the
terrain you are on becomes steeper, being out of shape, it is hard but you keep
going. The longer you go the steeper it
gets. Before you know it you’re on all
fours crawling your way up the mountain. Finally the trail becomes level again
and you’re able to walk. I’m doing this, I can do this.
You find a place to sit drink some water and eat your granola bar for some
energy. Ready to continue you get up and
start on your way, before you know it, the trail has become so steep that
you’re not sure if you want to go on. But I’m going to do
this, nothing will stop me.
So you go for it. As you’re
crawling on all fours you don’t realize that the rock you put your foot onto is
loose so you lose your footing and end up sliding down the trail. I
can’t do this. I quit. I don’t want to give up though. I can’t do this on my own.
All these thought racing through your head as you’re looking for something to
grab onto as your falling down the trail. You finally find something to grab
onto, and you steady yourself then talk yourself into continuing your journey. You are making progress, when you come across
a cliff. Fear and panic sink in. You truly doubt yourself. You turn around and
start to head back. I can’t do this, I can’t turn around
and go back, but I can’t face that cliff. I want to conquer this mountain, but
I can’t do this alone. You see a group of people walk past
you, toward the cliff. You follow them then watch and see how they tackle the
cliff. If they can do
it I should be able to do it too. Deciding to tackle
the cliff you feel your eyes water up, breathing becomes difficult, chest
becomes tight, and you feel nauseated. How do I do this if this fear is so high?
You see another group of people come up toward you to cross the cliff. I’ll ask for help? I don’t know they’ll laugh.
Just ask, the worst they can say is NO! You ask and one of
the guys lets you hold onto him while he crosses the cliff. Relieved you can
begin to breathe again. You continue on your journey. The trail stays pretty
level with little changes the terrain. Pretty soon you’ve reached the
top. I did it! You enjoy the summit. Taking
pictures of where you’re at. Thinking of
what you had to face and accomplish to get to where you’re at. You feel
accomplished joyful and peace.
Rough
draft
Depression
is like a mountain. To get to the top of the mountain is to be happy. You have
to take steps and work at it just to get there. You'll come across a cliff and
fear will sink in, you'll doubt yourself, wonder if you are really as strong as
you were feeling this morning when you decided you'd conquer this mountain.
You'll debate on going back, but then someone offers you their hand, you're not
alone you can cross this cliff; you cross it. A little while later the trail
becomes very steep. you're on all fours climbing, you end up sliding back down,
but grab onto a tree stump, and hold yourself there for a bit, talking with
your friend, reminding yourself you're not alone and then you get the desire to
keep going again, even if you start to slide back down, it's better you try
than to just give up. You'll reach what you think is the top of the mountain
and be so pleased with yourself and find peace in the beauty around you, then
you notice there is more of the mountain, you figure why not, I've been doing
well here, I got here with the help of others, as long as i use the skills I've
learned to get to here I can make it to the next summit. So you head for it. This
one seems a lot harder than the previous climb. more cliffs than before, and
even steeper, but you remember the low, and don't wanna go back to that dark
place. You remember the first summit you hit and remember the beauty, and you
know you want to reach that place, so you fight even harder. This time you're
more open about your struggles.
