The Journey of Life

The human mind creates superficial barriers within itself that limit what people consider can be done or answered.  Society tells us that certain objectives cannot be achieved.  These thoughts of impossibility are engrained into our subconscious from an early age.  We become so used to the idea that these thoughts are impossible to fully comprehend that, we, in a sense forget that they exist and carry on.  The constant weight of the rock weighing down our hands becomes commonplace and slips from attention until the given question becomes intuitively unanswerable.  Just as the rock becomes smooth over time, our thoughts are constantly being eroded by the sands of our mind, losing all edge and interest.  Over time, the quandary becomes nearly unapproachable to our mind as each crevice we initially saw as a point of entry that would allow us to break up the question, has been leveled out by erosion, eliminating any way to maneuver about the solution. 

The summer after my sophomore year, I decided to hike to the top of Mount Baldy with a friend, Alireza, and his cousin, Matin (an experienced hiker).  When we reached the halfway point, Alireza and I were exhausted and sure that we could not make it any further.  We sat down and contemplated whether we were capable of investing another three hours of effort to reach the top.  We promptly told his cousin that we could not go any further.  I saw a river of sorts in my mind, one that appeared too deep and wide to cross without a bridge.  Matin told us but one thing; “the human mind will always create false barriers that tell you that you cannot accomplish certain goals.  But if you stop listening and push through these barriers, you’ll see that such barriers do not actually exist”.  Alireza and I took this advice and decided that although we were sore and our minds were telling us to call it quits, we would accomplish our goal of reaching the top of Mount Baldy and continue on.  On our way up the mountain several times we stopped and thought, ”This seems like the top of the mountain. We can stop here.”  Instead we pushed forward.  Still exhausted, we chose to continue until finally reaching the summit.  When I stood on the top I realized that the river in my mind that looked too perilous to cross, was in fact an inch deep and could be crossed.  The first and most difficult step in accomplishing a goal that appears impossible is having the faith to continue when it seems pointless to try. 

Though I may never attempt to climb Mount Everest, I learned something that day.  It is said that “objects in mirrors are closer than they appear.” Although this statement is true for automobiles, life is exactly the opposite.  If you push yourself to your limits and reassess the situation, you’ll realize that your personal limits are in fact still several miles away. 
-Phillip Jones 4 L1f3