Climb Your Own Mt. Everest

Rather late in life I discovered an amazing source of learning: meeting, listening to, interacting with or simply being in the presence of inspiring people who are doing good, positive things with their lives. This sounds simple enough, but it was something that no one told me about, neither at home nor at school, or, later on, in college and university (where learning was thought of as something one acquired basically from books and not from real life). But now, thankfully, I know better, and so I try to avail of chances to meet or listen to inspiring people if and when they come my way.

Some months ago, I was blessed with the wonderful opportunity of being able to listen to a profoundly inspiring person talk about her life and achievements: a young woman, presently a university student, who had the rare distinction of climbing the tallest peak in every single continent on Earth (and so, naturally, that includes the tallest of them all, Mt. Everest), besides skiing to the South Pole, and doing all of this before she turned 18 years of age! I know this feat might sound unbelievable to some, but, nevertheless, it’s true!

The woman spoke with tremendous depth and confidence as she related her amazing journeys to places in the world that for most of us would likely seem almost impossible to ever get to simply because how daunting the journeys to get there seem. Obviously, here was a person with great trust, drive, courage, grit, determination, love for adventure and zest for life. The experiences that she had gained as she pursued her project of going to parts of the world that relatively few would dare to had made her immensely confident, almost sage-like, even at this young age. No doubt her trips to these far-flung points on Planet Earth required much time in training, but yet she was able to balance her pursuit of this passion of hers with her continuing formal education, which in itself was a very remarkable accomplishment.

Behind the woman’s almost incredible story was the immense love and support of her parents, who themselves were mountaineering enthusiasts. If I remember correctly from what she said, they had started her on love for mountain-climbing when she was not yet ten and her mother had accompanied her to the summit of some of the mountains that she had climbed in different parts of the world. How many other parents would have supported, emotionally, financially and in other ways, something so unconventional, and, to put it mildly, far from easy, for their child who was not yet even 18 years old?

As her talk drew to a close, the woman left the audience with a bit of wisdom that, if I recall right, was something to this effect: Not everybody has to climb the physical Mt. Everest, but everyone can climb their own Mt. Everest. I take this to suggest that everyone can arrive at the peak or a considerable height in some or the other worthwhile field or sphere, thereby using their life in a good way, just as this amazingly inspiring woman had. What words of wisdom, especially coming from someone so young!