As I entered adulthood, I remember being told that life was a journey and the key was to just keep going. It didn’t matter what you did, but you needed to be sure to keep moving. Sometimes the footfalls would come quickly along an easy path. At other times they would be agonizingly slow, coming to a virtual crawl in some places. Finally, there would be times when you would have to sidestep from your perceived path, or maybe even take a long and tortuous detour.

But through it all, you were supposed to be aiming for a goal. Some final destination.

No one ever said that the destination would be a shining castle on the mountaintop, easily visible at all times during your journey, but it was certainly implied. It never occurred to me that I wouldn’t have any idea of where I was going for most of the journey of my life. No idea at all.

As I’ve gotten older, my vision of the path for my life has changed dramatically. Recently, I realized that another metaphor works even better: Rock Climbing.

As I see it, we’ve got somewhere to go on our life’s journey, but most of the time it’s out of sight…way out of sight. It’s a dream, but not something that we can see. A promise, and nothing more. But much of the reward comes from the journey itself. And all of the peril.

Honestly, I’ve never been rock climbing. I’ve scaled a couple of small cliffs in my day, but nothing more than 75 feet or so. And I always knew what was at the top. But in my mind, rock climbing is a pretty intense endeavor. To climb for one’s life journey, it would be a ridiculously tall cliff. At times the going would be relatively easy, at other times very difficult, and sometimes the rock face would be set in such a way that it angles back over your head. But regardless of how easy or difficult the climb, there’s not a moment that you can really relax 100%. Any small misjudgment or misstep could lead to disaster. And if not a total disaster, a serious setback.

Sometimes, others have forged a path across the rock, and you can use their footholds, pitons, and ropes. Those times are easier, but not without danger. Putting your trust in someone who went before means that you believe they were successful on this part of the journey. Sometimes that trust is misplaced. Most of the time it’s not. But it does mean that you have to let go of your pride and accept the help and guidance of a somewhat invisible hand.

But the most important difference between the path metaphor and the rock climbing metaphor is that on a path, you can stop anywhere. You can sit down, rest, and gather yourself for the next part of the journey. You can stay put as long as you want or need. The path will be there when you get going again. And while your stopped your actually resting. It takes almost no work to sit. Your mind and your body get re-energized through this act of resting. On the other hand, on the face of a sheer cliff, stopping takes a significant amount of effort. Sure, it’s less than if you’re actually climbing, but you still have to keep yourself from falling off. There’s no dozing without significant prior planning. Your mind and your body may be able to relax some but you still have to be on alert.

The rock climbing metaphor seems to fit my life much better than the path metaphor. I find myself going from one situation to the next, never really getting a break. Sure, I get a little bit of rest in between moments of high activity, but it’s not total let it all completely go rest. I’m always dealing with one issue or another at some level either mentally or physically. I find myself always having to be alert to all sorts of things, both good and bad. There just doesn’t seem to be any time to totally shut it all off and just relax.

To complicate matters, when you’re climbing up the face of a mountain you really can’t see the final destination. You know that it’s out there, above you. The problem is that you can’t see it at all. No matter how far off the rock face you propel yourself, you can’t see all the way to the top. That’s even more like life. None of us know how much longer we have. It could be hours, weeks, or decades. You just never know.

That lack of knowledge can be frustrating at times. No matter how much we try, we’re really not ever going to be able to pinpoint when the journey is done until it’s finished. That brings up the second part of my epiphany…that it’s time to start enjoying all the parts of the climb, not just the parts that I immediately see as enjoyable. Life is going to have it’s ups and downs. There are going to be hard climbs and easier climbs. Some days will be struggles, yet everyday is a new opportunity to see something spectacular. To make something dramatic out of the smallest details. To see the beauty that every day has to offer…that’s my new goal.

Think about your own journey…is it more of a trek along a path or a climb up a rock face?

For me, I’ll be somewhere on a windswept peak scrambling from one tenuous handhold to the next. When you see the ridiculous smile on my face you’ll know why…because I’m going to enjoy this journey. It’s the only one I’ve got, so I might as well have some fun, eh?