The Hill

After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb - Nelson Mandela

Nothing like looking up at a hill and start sweating. At least that’s how I react to hills. It’s about to be a climb. I had a dream once where I was running from bad guys. They wanted to take something from me and I finally got away only to look up and see a huge hill in front of me. At the top of that hill was safety. My home. My safe haven. The end of my running. But the question when I woke up was what’s up with that hill! For the record I don’t live on a hill. I once had to drive up a steep hill and freaked out and abandoned the car. Okay I’m being dramatic but I did have someone else help me drive it up. And I am not kidding. It was a steep hill. Like you’re driving up straight to heaven type hill. Okay I’m distracting myself from the purpose of this piece. Once you get up there everything is okay. 

Have you ever been on a journey in life and it seems you have to do one more uphill climb to finally get to your prize? That final exam before your degree. That final loan approval to become a homeowner. That final test before your driver’s license. It’s that final hill. It happens to us often in different times in life but it sometimes feels like the first time. Because its so easy to forget the last hill or the hills before that one. I can’t even begin to count how many hills I have climbed. Nor can I remember them all. But each one was an accomplishment. A trophy claimed. A strength gained. Do you ever look back at your hills and feel pride? I hope you do. However they mostly end up being those trophies we toss to the side to collect dust because now we have a whole new competition ahead of us. 

Sometimes these hills are great reminders for our current hill which can sometimes look like a mountain depending on the day it catches us. There have been times in my life when I feel like I can’t climb the hill in front of me. It’s too steep. It’s too rough. But then you get that great friend or supporter who reminds you of that last hill you climbed. It was hard but you still made it to the top. I was going through a divorce and anyone who has had to go through one knows how excruciatingly hard of a hill it can be to climb. I started to doubt myself. Was I making the right decisions. Making the right moves. It’s so stressful. Can I take all of this stress? Then my best friend reminded me of my past hills. “You have survived a war” “You survived widowhood with 2 little girls” “You survived moving as a teen to a country you didn’t know much about” “You survived life in general which has so many ups and downs” I realized in that moment she was right. These are hills I had forgotten about. Clearly if I could survive so many hills what is one more. Talk about one great pep talk.

I was so pumped up I felt like The Hulk. I pushed forward with renewed strength. And guess what? I absolutely survived that hill and kept it moving. Other hills have come and gone since then. But I try to focus on the fact that I’m not climbing this hill alone. God never leaves us and is with us every step of the way giving us strength and guidance. It helps knowing that I’m not doing this alone in different ways. Physically and spiritually. Two is better than one. Sometimes, it is about the climb…