Perspective can affect the mountains we face

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Perspective can determine whether a mountain top experience is scary or exhilarating.

Sometimes the mountains I face seem huge and insurmountable. To others my mountains may seem more like hills or even a gradual land elevation, hardly noticed. Our experiences affect our perspectives. Since none of us are alike, that is why we see things in our own ways.

Sometimes though my mountains are the on top of the world feeling, where I imagine my arms out wide, my hair blowing in the wind, laughter and joy spilling from my mouth.

There are different ways to view mountains in our lives whether the mountain is a high or a low. Our attitudes or perspectives affect the view. Everyone’s mountain is different, meant to be scale-able by that person. Our lessons are uniquely ours. That’s what makes our stories interesting, although some may be more intriguing than others.

It’s foolhardy to wish for someone else’s story, however. We don’t know the deep down details of where they have been and where they are going. None of us knows our future, but we have our individual goals and dreams, passions and dislikes. It takes each of us to make the world what it is. Our contributions are special to our story. Never discredit someone’s contribution. Each of us has a reason for being here. God knows the plan even if we don’t. All our lives weave together into a tapestry of sorts. What we do and say affects others. In the big picture, we’re all intertwined.

How I react and get involved does matter. For example, I may be invited to help someone through a challenge, but since it isn’t my challenge, I need to be careful not to embrace it as my own or interfere with whatever the learning point is. When I share about my own experiences, often it is for reassurance or to let off steam, not necessarily asking for a rescue. Depths of sharing depend on the relationship involved. Often we just need someone to listen so we can bounce our ideas and feelings. Talking is often the first step in solving a problem. How a situation is addressed does have repercussions. If I feel understood, the outcome is better than if I feel misunderstood or mocked.

How do you view literal and figurative mountains? Are they beautiful and majestic land forms that you hike and climb for exercise or adventure? Or are they places where you go to rest and listen to the silence and nature? Maybe they are the tough places in your life, hard and foreboding? Do you want off the mountain? Or is a mountain the high places in your life where you feel exhilarated and alive, and you wish you could just stay there and never plunge into any valleys of despair? Do you know how to throw a line to someone to help her up her mountain or to encourage her on a difficult terrain?

Mountains. They aren’t just hunks of rock. They can be illustrations of our inner selves. Just as pictures of mountains may be peaceful or scary, scenic or stormy, emotional representations point to a place we are in our personal journey through life.

Weather can change quickly on the mountain, just as circumstances can change in an instant in our lives. Encouraging friends help us get through the challenges so we can be on top experiencing the rush of adrenaline when we’ve conquered a mountain. Thank God for friends!

Never tackle a mountain alone. Whether we are really out mountain climbing or are tackling a hard spot in our life, we need to remember to have a buddy along. Friends keep us moving when we get tired and want to stop or give up. Friends share our tears, and friends share our triumphs. Mountains just feel safer or less daunting with a friend along.

What do you think? How are you viewing your mountain today?