You thought this would be easy?
Nah, of course you didn’t. You’re better than that.
I do know some folks who thought it would be easy. They got to the top of (what they thought was) their particular mountain top, took a deep breath of satisfaction, and found they had just finished the trek in from Kathmandu; elevation 4,600 feet [1,400 meters], to their personal Everest Base Camp, 17,700 feet [5,400 meters] above sea level.
Yep, what they thought was the summit was merely the beginning; only 11,400 vertical feet, [3,486 meters], mostly straight up, to go. It’d be ever colder and ever windier, too. See, Everest is so tall, its summit sticks up into the Jet Stream, and the temperatures drop routinely below -22F [-30C] with winds of 40-100 MPH [60-160 kph].
Building good stuff, whether it’s a business, a relationship, a legacy – building is hard. Sometimes way too hard. But you persevere because nothing else in your life is so meaningful. Nothing else makes you content. Nothing else secures the future of your loved ones. Or to misquote those famed bards Chumbawamba slightly, “I get knocked down, I get up again, ain’t nothing gonna keep me down.”
That’s it folks, just keep getting up. With every setback, every no you hear, just get up. One more time.
the Process Dark. sonnet 361
You must have heard these words a thousand times:
“You have to trust the process and the plan.”
Yet here is truth, and thus I hope it chimes:
The process, it is dark, good faith be damned.
You must succeed, and hence, you got to climb.
You see yourself atop the mountain high.
‘Tis your heart and your hard work, you shall grind.
The process, it is dark, don’t be denied.
You will fall; as life often undermines,
You will get up as often as you must.
And vanquish all, a winner by design,
The process, it is dark, do not be crushed.
Infernos forge our invincible souls;
Your brilliance etched onto immortal scrolls.
--- June 2024 ---