Climbing a mountain

This easter I went to the northern parts of Norway to visit my sister. The region is truly beautiful, and I get amazed everytime I visit. As always with me, the weather was perfect. Sun created a spring time feeling out the ordinary.

One of the days, I decided to go to a nearby peak, a lovely summit called Fugltind (Bird summit). The summit is at  1033m above the sea, and you can reach it from the fjord. 

On this trip, I had my oldest nephew, and my ex-brother in law. Our goal was to reach the top, and enjoy the day being out in the snow. Using ski and carrying chocolate and food, we started our expedition in the morning. We where all alone, sun was heating and we enjoyed the slopes up from the valley. 

My to companions did lack some of the skills of skiing, but they had plenty of motivation. After aproximately one hour, we made a mistake, and discovered that we had went too far north. Correcting our route, we turned westward and started climbing the summit from the north side - the side you see on the image above. 

We climbed diagonally, in southbound direction, and finally reached the area where it would be possible to climb to the top. Just about 100 meters below the summit, we took a break and had a brief talk. We assessed the conditions, our equipment (that was not made for this kind of skiing), and the skiing skills of the group. And we desided that the safest option today would be to turn around and enjoy the skiing back down without broken legs. 

This trip to the mountains reminded me of a training I once participated in, where we used a mountain as the picture of our personal or group goal. The road to the summit would take us past falling rocks, up steep hillsides, and it would be long and testing. 

In order to succeed, you needed to prepare. Set up the right team, find the common motivation to walk all the way, and to go through the challenges you would meet on the way to your goal. 

On the moutain trip, I experienced that allthough we did not reach the summit, we did reach our goal. We wanted to spend a day together, enjoying nature, sun and snow. We wanted to have fun, and to prise the life we live. And we wanted to see how far we could reach with the kind of equipment we had available. 

In my opinion, goals are moving as we reach them. Some are fixed, like a summit, while others are more fluid. And as soon as we get close enough to the goal, we realize that it may not be as important anymore, that other things are more vital to us. And many times I discover that when one goal is reached, a new one is coming up behind it.

I cannot imagine my life without a goal, or a series of goals. I cannot imagine what to do, had I not had goals, visions and dreams. Yes, they change over time. As do my priorities. That comes with experience.

Just like knowing when to turn around instead of pursuing the summit.