Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Be Here Now - Part I

Can you appreciate this or do you just want to finish?
Why do you want to climb Mt Whitney? To experience incredible sights and sounds? To satisfy that gnawing need-to-know feeling in your gut?  To feel closer to your maker?  To accomplish a long-held goal?  Or to brag about it on Facebook?

Do we pay enough attention to the journey?  Or do we fixate completely on the result?  If we ignore an opportunity for an experience to change us, do we diminish it or is bragging about the end result enough?

We can split Mt Whitney climbers into two camps.  Some climb because doing so is important to them.  Some climb because doing so is important to someone else.  Therefore, the climber may not care all that much about the process.  Generally, these are the folks who shortchange their preparation or remain willfully ignorant of the hazards or both.  They're climbing Mt Whitney because the accomplishment brings them a certain cachet within their group.  So why should they spend time preparing for something they really don't care enough about themselves? 

Are you especially motivated to prepare for tasks you don’t care about?  Maybe that’s true about your job but someone pays you to be there.  Ironically, most of these folks don't realize their true motivation.  Or they do, but fabricate some smoke screen so explaining it to others won't make them sound like a total tool.

Many climbers wish for a litmus test to separate the purists from the poseurs as a prerequisite for permission to climb their holy place.  Unlike Mt Everest, which requires certain technical skills, there couldn't be a fair exam.  Besides, who would implement it?

Here's a revolutionary idea:  What if those of us who love the mountains with all our hearts imbued the nonbelievers with the same fervor?  Attendees at my Whitney clinics respond and connect with the more personal aspects of the presentation.  I guess I seem less like Mr Climber Guy and more like someone moved by incredible life-changing experiences many people crave.  

Talk about the stuff that moves you, motivates you or scares the living daylights out of you.  Help these people feel it the way you do.

The next installment will be my attempt to do just that.

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