I crane my neck to try and see the peak,
and even then my eyes can’t reach it.
The sun glints off the snow-covered summit,
and mocks at me with its glittering smile.
I can’t climb this mountain--
it’s my fear.
Every minute,
I wait at the foot of the mountain,
cowering like an ant in the shadow of a monster.
Every day,
the sun rises and I feel its insulting gaze for a few short moments,
before it’s swallowed by the mouth of the mountain.
Every morning,
the sun pushes me away,
but I come closer and closer,
and the closer I move to the mountain,
the bigger it gets.
Finally,
after years of lying dormant at the base of a behemoth,
rage stirs in me,
and I leave the safety of everything I know,
everything I’m comfortable with,
and I trudge up the slopes of the mountain.
From the very beginning,
Doubt tries to stop me.
It dogs my steps,
blowing snow, bitter cold and fear into my face,
coming from every direction,
trying to turn me back.
It screams in my ears,
and clouds up my mind,
making me afraid of succeeding.
But Courage is not far behind.
It sneaks in when Doubt isn’t looking,
under my many layers,
and curls itself around my heart.
Its long whiskers remind me constantly of its presence,
and its steady, beating heart gives me just enough to move on.
Courage lies asleep,
but when Doubt makes my heart freeze,
it purrs, exuding warmth that spreads from my heart all the way to my toes,
and I scream in Doubt’s face that I will never give up,
and I stumble on--
through the snow,
and over the glaciers and the ice.
One morning, I open my eyes to the sunshine,
and realize in awe that the sun no longer mocks me.
I look into the face of the sun,
and it concedes and turns away,
hiding its ashamed face behind the clouds,
and I realize I made the summit.
Doubt slinks away,
and Courage, now fully awake,
burns in me with fire.
I look down at the defeated giant below me,
and realize that I just conquered Everest--
I will not hide in the shadows anymore.
