Last Sunday, I got back from one of the most thrilling adventures of my life--climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. It had been a while since I have been able to completely detach myself from work and other commitment and just soak in the beauty and splendor of my current surroundings. Our running joke in the group was "we only have two jobs--stay hydrated and walk."
Lesson 1. Enjoying the Beauty in the Present Moment.
On day 2, our group came across a tree with gnarled, thick branches across the trail. I asked the guide to take a picture of me, which he did. To my surprise, he asked if I could take a picture of him in that same spot." I realized that even though my guide had summited Kilimanjaro over 100 times, he was still just in awe of the beauty as I was. I want to be that kind of person who takes joy in the things that I see every day.
Lesson 2: Continue at Your Own Pace
The mantra of the mountain is "pole pole." It is Swahili for "slowly, slowly." They want you to go slow, so that you can acclimatize successfully and have enough energy for summit day. In other circumstances, if I was behind a group, I would quickly hustle to catch up. But in this case, I could not. So, there were plenty of times when I was behind with another guide, with the rest of the group ahead. However, on Kilimanjaro, generally speaking there is no rush to the destination. There is no hurry to get to a camp first. The point is that you make it there. They want you to enjoy the unique flora and fauna, and take pleasure in the present.
I am very guilty of comparing my present day situation to others, career-wise, relationship-wise, etc. But in the end, we are all on our extremely tailored journey that has been created for us. We will reach certain milestones, but it may be at a different time than someone else.
Lesson 3: Your Achievements are Not in Isolation
We had an incredible 16-person staff that included someone who maintained our toilet, as well as a cook, waiter, and many porters. Every day, we were woken up by our waiter, Dale, who gave us hot water each morning to drink with our liquid IVs. Dale then acted as a human clock--he told us when our hot water was ready for washing time, when the food was ready, and with a smile, he would put seconds on our plate and say, "one for the road!"
We had Vedda and Emmanuel who were superb guides and complimented each other so well. Vedda loved pointing out the flowers to me, and Emmanuel had this infectious enthusiasm about the mountain. Summiting was one of the most sublime experiences that I've ever experienced, but one of the most emotional experiences on the mountain was coming back to camp and having our staff sing for us. They immediately congratulated us on a job well done. I immediately thought--but it was because of you that I did this!"
Kilimanjaro reminded me that there is no achievement made in isolation. No matter what you accomplish, more than likely one or more people helped you along the way. Most important, being part of a community goes a long way in helping you with your accomplishments. You need community--the staff, the other hikers in your group, the other hikers at camp. Being part of a community diminishes the burden you have.
Lesson 4. Being Aware of My Limitations.
One of the hardest parts of the trip was being okay with the fact that sometimes I was going to be last. On summit day, I was not feeling well, and
