The Range of Mountains

"One may walk over the highest mountain one step at a time."
- John Wanamaker

Having walked this path that I am currently on for some time, I have in many ways become accustomed to it. I know the rhythm and I know the rhyme. I know what is expected of me and I know the angels and demons that have accompanied me. I know this walk. And what a long walk it has been since my last transition in life came several years ago. Prior to that I was on a different path, a road many have taken - though the foliage along the way wasn't blossoming exactly, it was kept alive just because that is what we do sometimes - we just survive, we do not thrive. At that turning point, four years ago, I was forcibly (albeit thankfully all this time later) pushed onto a wilderness lined path with lots of scary shadows and even a couple big, bad wolves along the way. Unfortunately, I did fall for some of the wolves' tricks but fortunately I did survive those tricks and decided as part of the aftermath of glaring at those sharp white teeth coming at me (and sometimes nipping me) that it was time to get healthy. The funny part is that I had no idea what that meant at the time... I just knew something needed to be fixed.

Now, here I am... all these years later... again. And my path is getting ready to change once again. This time... while frightened in many ways... I am looking forward to it. I know what I want but I have no real idea of what it is going to take to get there. To get what I want out of life. I know it is going to require work, lots of work but I still do not really know what that means in many ways. I will know as I come upon it... I will know as I figure it out... one step at a time.

For today, I am stepping out of these woods that were all about teaching me about me and I know I have to choose which new path to take; resistance or least resistance. I am going with resistance. I would rather not take the easy way out. I would rather climb that mountain range instead of flat and dry. I hear there are parties on top of the mountains and that getting back down into the valleys can be relatively easy, as long as I watch out for the common and uncommon pitfalls. The hills are going to require discipline and the other way, not so much. That other path, the flat one looks rather barren to me, rather like a dustbowl, rather boring. It is lined with houses every few hundred feet and I guarantee there is plenty of food and rest and mindless TV watching going on. That path looks easy but where there is grass, the grass looks fake. Nope, not for me. I choose the plush, green rolling mountains ahead of me. Maybe I'll even move one at some point but we will see.

I wonder what the first party is going to be like... I wonder who I might meet or what I might see. I wonder what kind of music they will play and what kind of food they will eat or what kind of drinks they might drink. I wonder what they do for fun and how they love. I better get going if I want to find out the answers to these questions because I want to see it first hand.

Want to come with me? It's totally up to you.