A lovely, lovely pile of words

A lovely, lovely pile of words


Whatever Mountain

by Shane Koyczan

If you think it will be easy

If you think the path

will be laid out before you

or that the trail

will have previously been blazed

all obstacles cleared

every footstep

already pioneered by those who have gone before you

if you think that every barricade

will have been dismantled

or that every wall

will have been removed

if you think pressing your hands

into the wet cement of a foundation

will have proved to the world

you have left your mark upon it

if you think the grit

under your fingernails is evidence

that you have done enough

or that your rough and callused hands

offer sufficient testimony

that you have earned rest

if you think the test

will be anything less

than an essay question

aimed at unearthing

the answer of how much

your heart can bear

you will be disappointed

it will require more than

that there will be no welcome mat

waiting to greet you at the foot of this mountain

no medal

to pin upon your chest

when this is done

you will have won nothing by crossing this finish line

It exists

only to task you with discovering

how much deeper

you can go

it will insist that you drill past

the "I don't know"

that has stood stubbornly in your way

since the instant

you first wondered if you could

it will burden you with the charge

of bringing to the surface

an understanding

of the misunderstood

the excavation

of an answer to the question

what now?

how do you keep going

in a world where the hellos

are outweighed by the goodbyes?

how do you train yourself to know

that you have to battle through the fall

if you ever expect to rise

you have to accept the fact that

the size of the mountain in front of you

is secondary to the fact that there is a mountain in your way

you don't need a finish line to remind you

that the way forward exists because of the work you put in

forging the path behind you

effort isn't weighed on scales

there will be times when the last breath in your lungs

must volunteer to become the wind in your sails

because who else is going to do it?

forward

faster than full speed

toward the colossus of uncertainty

that's been laying bricks in your throat

to make room for the quiet impostor

sent to replace your roar your

strength is not diminished

because others think your struggle is futile

every time you broke

you learned to reconcile the pieces

and build a better self

using what you could salvage from the ruins of your slaughter

your alma mater was a school of thought

where the lessons were taught in reverse

test first

instruction later

it was a classroom dedicated to the teaching of what can be learned

from your failure

the answers were never meant to be easy

you've always known it

you don't borrow the conviction it takes

to make yourself practice the impossible

you own it

the heaviest thing you will ever have to lift

are our own spirits

they will at times

be weighted down with the terrible gravity that is doubt

they will at times refuse to man the lighthouse

meant to steer you clear from disaster

you will never master being whole

without first knowing

that some of the pieces we lose stay lost

and that sometimes the cost of moving forward

is having to leave behind that part of yourself

and learn to exist without it

to face down whatever mountain is in your way

but then do what you're going to do about it.

David Falato

Empowering brands to reach their full potential

1d

Lori, thanks for sharing! How are you?

Like
Reply
Bridgette Morehouse

Global HR Executive, Leadership Development, OD, Executive Coach

5y

I ♥️ Shane and this - thanks for sharing!!

To view or add a comment, sign in

More articles by Lori Jo Vest

Insights from the community

Others also viewed

Explore topics