Peaks and Valleys

Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. And today? Today is a gift. That's why we call it the present.
- Babatunde Olatunji



Peaks and valleys, peaks and valleys, peaks and valleys…That seems to be a fairly good description of just about anything in nature. Especially humans. We go from the high peaks to the deep, dark valleys, with very few of us keeping a summer home somewhere in the middle. It’s almost like we like the exercise of running from the bottom to the top and back down again.

So…in the words of my inner child…Why? :-)

Why do we go from highs to lows and seem to race from one to the other? Can’t we just level out?

I’m sure that there are LOTS of reasons for this crazy pattern. Some $4000/hour shrink could probably articulate it a bit better than me. So, just bear with me for a bit. Or rather, think with me for a bit. :-)

What is a peak for you? I know that the easiest definition for me is that a peak is the culmination of one of my goals, hopes, or dreams. That is a GREAT time. Everyone feels great when they achieve a goal they set. The confetti is thrown, the crowds cheer, and you throw your hands up in victory. Or, maybe that’s just me…but you get my drift. And then what? What happens after you’ve gained the victory? Do you look around and find the next goal, or dream to knock out of the park? I bet you do. I do too.

But I’m thinking that the most likely “next step” is a slackening, of everything. You stop pushing yourself as hard as you were. You tell yourself that you deserve to just stop and take a rest. That you’ve been working SO hard and now, you don’t have to. After all, you won right?

At that point, the slide down the mountain begins. It’s not something that we notice at first. I don’t think that most of us realize it at all. We just end up back at the bottom, looking up at the top of the mountain, where we just were.

“How the hell did I get down here?” That’s usually the first question we ask. And, only very rarely, is the answer: “Oh, yeah. I sat on my ass and let it all fall to pieces.” But then, I think that’s just human nature. We don’t usually look inside for the answers first. We can eventually get into that habit, but for the most part, we look everywhere BUT inside.

So, now we’re back in a valley. Slogging through the muck and grime and struggling to put one foot in front of the other. It’s hard to keep moving. We are tired, sometimes hurting, volatile, and usually simply a mess. Direction and drive can be in complete absence. Yeah, you all know. Being in a valley sucks. It’s hard to be there and no one WANTS to be there, but once you’re there, it’s SO damn hard to get out.

And…eventually, you do get out! You get that breath of fresh air and start to claw your way back up the mountain. You have a GOAL again. You can feel your drive coming back and the energy rushing through you. You are on a mission now!

And then the whole trip starts over and over and over again. It’s tiring to just type all that out. And I KNOW that you can imagine how it is to live that way…let’s face it…you DO live that way.

But…my question still stands…Why? Why do we live this way? Maybe we just need the challenge to get us into gear and do the work for the achievement. Maybe we gain a sense of satisfaction by overcoming and regaining the mountaintop.

There is neither happiness nor unhappiness in this world; there is only the comparison of one state with another. Only a man who has felt ultimate despair is capable of feeling ultimate bliss. It is necessary to have wished for death in order to know how good life is to live.
- Alexandre Dumas (1802 - 1870), The Count of Monte Cristo

I think that we simply don’t know how to set our goals so that we are continually climbing and keep the upward momentum. We have this innate need for goals with definite ends. I guess that way we can point to it and shout out “I have succeeded!” But what if we had a lifetime goal? One that kept us moving each and every day towards that highest peak. Sure, we might take a short breather every now and then. Survey our surroundings and then get back to the climb. Every stop would be higher than the last. We could eventually get a bird’s eye view of our entire life. Just imagine where you could go, if you kept your eyes turned upwards and followed them to the mountains conclusion.

Look, I’ve found a mountain that’s high enough. I’m going to start climbing. Feel free to use my rope and join me on the mountain.