|
Most of us have never seen the Himalayas, climbed in the Andes or stood next to Switzerland’s Matterhorn. But a majority of individuals and families have faced disaster, tragedy, debilitating illness, an accident or other trial, some personal mountain that at one point seemed insurmountable. 
When Your Problem Feels Like Mt Everest Author: Gary Sinclair Most of us have never seen the Himalayas, climbed in the Andes or stood next to Switzerland’s Matterhorn. But a majority of individuals and families have faced disaster, tragedy, debilitating illness, an accident or other trial, some personal mountain that at one point seemed insurmountable. People of course respond in a variety of ways. Some are immediately overwhelmed and give up. Rather than even start the climb, they give way to depression and despair uninterested in the help of friends, professionals or fellow-strugglers. Others panic. They want to overcome but don’t know where to begin so they run from person to person, idea to idea, without a plan making little headway towards the summit. 
“On the mountains of truth you can never climb in vain: either you will reach a point higher up today, or you will be training your powers so that you will be able to climb higher tomorrow.” — Friedrich Nietzsche
A third group gets angry. They spew their rage at life, God, friends, family or all of the above, furious that life has taken this precipitous turn. While each of these responses is somewhat extreme, they are normal. They are emotions that erupt when we face a mountain that scares us because we don’t believe we have the resources to conquer it.
My wife Jackie and I encountered a Denali over a decade ago now when it was discovered she had stage three colon/rectal cancer. There was a tumor growing inside her and the devilish cancer cells had begun to spread. Ironically, she and I had climbed her first fourteen-thousand-foot peak in Colorado just three months before. We now had a new mountain to climb. It took some weeks for us to figure it out, but we finally realized that we must climb her cancer mountain the same way we ascended those of granite. While climbs and climbers are unique, there remain principles that undergird any successful summit bid. We now had a new mountain to climb. It took some weeks for us to figure it out, but we finally realized that we must climb her cancer mountain the same way we ascended those of granite.
“Mountains are only a problem when they are bigger than you. You should develop yourself so much that you become bigger than the mountains you face.” ― Idowu Koyenikan
The same is true with personal mountains
The same is true with personal mountains.
Let me discuss three of the key principles as they impacted our Mt. Cancer. One, never climb alone. Most every experienced mountaineer will tell you that you are foolish to in high altitude by yourself. People do it, yes, but many of them die, some needlessly. During Jackie’s illness, we knew we must invite others to walk this trail with us, some being people who had faced a similar journey to ours. Others simply wanted to be there with us. Two, climb one part of the trail at a time. Get through the next switchback before worrying about the next one. On a mountain trail, we would give each other candy once we reached the place on the mountain where we reached our next waypoint. In the same way, as we started her cancer journey, we focused on the next doctor visit, the chemo, surgery or radiation treatment rather than think about what might be down the road.
No, we couldn’t perfectly excise from our minds the possible future implications, but we became pretty good at keeping them at arm’s length until later. The mountain didn’t disappear but we could face it more and without unnecessary, unhelpful distractions
Three, be honest about your mountain. Some natural mountains have more snow and ice than others; some are steeper; some have false summits. In the same way our personal trails will vary from those others hike. We must face the difficulty of our mountain and not look the other way or try to make it seem easier than it is.
|
|
People who get cocky in the mountains often die there. People who don’t follow the basic rules may never make it down. That’s what happened in 1996 on the tragic Everest climb when sixteen died. As climber extraordinaire, Ed Viesturs, says, reaching the summit if only half the climb.
Thankfully, Jackie is cancer-free today and still hiking. We believe that at least part of her success and health today is due to utilizing high country practices and principles. The mountains have more to teach us and others. I’ve written more about his in my new book Never Quit Climbing as well. |
  |
The good news is that there is also hope for you to conquer personal mountain if you’ll learn from those who climb the big peaks. Your ascent can be a long and arduous one but remember: the view from the top is worth it!
Bio: Gary Sinclair is an author, leadership coach, speaker and avid climber/hiker. He has summitted nine fourteen thousand foot mountains and hiked with his wife Jackie in beautiful places like Yosemite, Alaska, Colorado, the Canadian Rockies and the Alps. He has an ongoing passion to help those who are hurting face life challenges that seem beyond their ability to conquer. He and his wife currently live in the Indianapolis, Indiana area. His website is: http://www.neverquitclimbing.com and he has recently written a book entitled, "Never Quit Climbing," available at Amazon.com.
0 Comments
As positive thinking affects almost every situation in your life's, how can one begin incorporating it into your life?
1. Do yoga or meditate.
Clearing your mind to allow you to focus your thoughts can bring your attention to what you need to be focusing on.
2. Look for the positive.
Be loving toward yourself and to others. Focus on your strengths and assets. Maybe you felt nervous when going to a particular event, but then you received lots of positive comments from others who were happy to see you.
3. Smile.
Force yourself to smile. It really does help to change your mood. And it relieves stress too.
Downloadable REMOVE NEGATIVITY Positive Affirmations Workbook available on Etsy
4. Surround yourself with positive people.
Get away from the negative people in your life. Talk to people who are positive.
5. Halt negative thoughts immediately.
When you catch yourself with negative thoughts, give yourself permission to stop it. Instead of thinking, “I can’t do that. I’m not talented enough,” say “I can do that. I am just as talented as anyone else.”
Follow our positivity board on Pinterest
Get away from the negative people in your life. Talk to people who are positive.
5. Halt negative thoughts immediately.
When you catch yourself with negative thoughts, give yourself permission to stop it. Instead of thinking, “I can’t do that. I’m not talented enough,” say “I can do that. I am just as talented as anyone else.”
Follow our positivity board on Pinterest
6. Don’t play the victim.
You are responsible for creating your life. If you don’t like the situation, change it. 7. List five things you are grateful for at this moment.
Being grateful is a form of positive thinking.
8. Be nice to yourself.
Treat yourself with respect. Treat yourself the same way you would treat someone else. Would you call someone else names like ugly, fat or loser? Probably not. Then don’t do it to yourself.
9. No one is perfect. Move on.
Don’t dwell on your mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes. Learn a lesson from each of them and then move on.
10. Learn to accept compliments. Build your self-esteem, self- image and confidence.
Take the compliment as it is meant to be given; as a gift. Compliments can help you build your self-image and self- confidence.
11. Focus on what's possible.
Get rid of the negative words like “can’t.” Remind yourself that you don’t need others approval for your accomplishments. Focus on your own capabilities and what is possible.
Incorporating positive thoughts into your life can change your future. You can become happier, healthier and more successful if you believe you can.
Also read: How To Encourage Positivity Around You
Inspired? Pin me
RSS Feed
Easily source research participants for in-person or online qualitative research studies. RESPONDENT
Categories
All
Anxiety
Becoming Organized
Blogging
Budget
Business
Career
Change Your Thoughts
Confidence
Courage
Decision Making
Decision-making
Dream Killers
Entrepreneur
Entrepreneurship
Free Downloads
FREE Ebooks
Goal Setting
Gratitude
Guest Blogger
Habits
Happiness
Health
Healthy Living
Home Business
Law Of Attraction
Life Quotes
Life Values
Motivation
Natural Remedies
Niche Markets
Online Marketing
Opportunity
Organizing Skills
Overcoming Fear
Perseverance
Personal Development
Personal Reflection
Physical Energy
Positivity
Procrastination
Procrastination / Laziness
Productivity
Relationships
Self Confidence
Self Discipline
Self Esteem
Self Leadership
Self Love
Self Reflection
Simple Living
Stress Management
Success
Time Managment
Wealth
I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.
(Jimmy Dean)
I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.
(Jimmy Dean)
Archives
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
FREE REPORT
Powerful Stress Busting Techniques! Download your’s now.
