What Mountain Is Just Waiting for You to Climb It?

I love milestones. Don't you? Next year I will celebrate a milestone of sorts. Lord willing, I will celebrate 50 years of teaching. Yes, I began teaching at Biola in 1976 at the ripe "old" age of 24. Just like doing your 20th marathon is a milestone, I think teaching for 5 decades is a milestone. I have decided to celebrate this milestone, if the Lord allows, by climbing another 4,000 meter peak, either in the Rockies (Uncompahgre?) or in the Alps (Allalinhorn?). I am grateful for every milestone in life that God grants me. 

The planning for this type of a climb is ridiculous. Preparation is everything. There is something pure and simple about training for a climb and putting all of your energy into that sport. As time has gone by, my body has adapted to the increased training hours and the variety of workouts, as our amazing bodies are apt to do. No doubt the recipe for training for and completing a really difficult climb includes motivation, determination, and putting an element of pressure on yourself. Without putting a tad bit of pressure on yourself you probably wouldn't crawl out of your warm bed in the morning and head off to the gym for a workout or to the trailhead to get in your steps. I know I'm not overtrained, but I could probably be training a little harder too. I think it's hard to find that balance and it takes time to figure out what your body can and cannot do. One of my challenges is that I'm pretty much a Type-A kind of guy. I know, shocking! Right now I'm blogging and cooking supper and checking my investments and worrying about my grandkids' college funds. Not to mention running in place. But as I've said a million times, more isn't necessarily better. You can't get there if you're always beating up your body. 

I'm sorry if I'm always talking about my training, but right now training is monopolizing and consuming my brain so that's what comes out on this blog. Today I did a massive arm workout. 

This was followed by getting in my steps. 

This workout was merely the beginning of a long training week. I can't state too often that each of us must have a mountain in life to climb, even if someone might consider it as little more than a molehill. We humans need a meaningful goal to chase down, a reason for being engaged in this enterprise called fitness. Otherwise, it's simply not worth all the time and effort we put into it. What I mean is: climb your mountain, my friend. The person who descends from a mountain is not the same person who began the climb. Some out-of-the-ordinary, relatively difficult task is necessary to keep us young and forever alive. You simply need a goal that you think you're incapable of or something you've never attempted before. It will provide that effective goal for getting and staying fit. You'd be surprised at how many mountains are out there just waiting for you to climb them. 

Have a wonderful day!