Climbing to Success

"Success is not counted by how high you have climbed but by how many people you brought with you."
- Wil Rose


"Success is the side-effect of your personal dedication to a course greater than yourself."
-Viktor Frankl


"Success is living up to your potential. Don't just show up for life- live it, enjoy it, taste it, smell it."
-Joe Kapp





I've just been thinking about success lately... wondering what it means. I think my definition of success has changed over the years, or maybe it has even changed over the past few days. Or maybe there is more than one definition for success depending on what we are referencing. Lately, as I've been thinking about climbing "Dharma Peak," thinking about my calling or purpose and climbing towards it, I have come back time and again to this idea of a higher potential, a higher power, and a higher course. Basically I have been thinking about a higher and higher destination. Higher, greater, better, bigger, more. More than just me, more than just this. I love thinking about a big goal, I think it's beautiful to aim high. And yet, sometimes it it tiring and discouraging. Climbing both my literal and symbolic mountains, I get tired and worn out. Hard work will do that to you! Is the journey enough to sustain when the climbing gets hard? Is the dream strong enough to keep pulling us toward our summit? Do we have the commitment, the dedication, the tapahs?

When I am tired, I try to remember the reason that I work hard, the reason that I put in all of that the effort/tapahs. Success does not come easy, nor should it. When I am tired, sometimes I need to lean on a friend or take a brief rest.

When I am standing on some summit or another, I try to remember these times... the effort/tapahs... so that I can be sure to savor the success! Where ever you are, be there on your journey and we'll climb together.