The Summit

Let's talk about a summit. The top of the mountain. The crest of a wave. Lumbering a giant ball of worry and stress over a hill. We all have that one point. A point that could dictate just about everything. Now this point, it's ageless. It doesn't magically happen when you turn eighteen, or get arrested for public intoxication, or sign a contract to the Man. You see, there are two sides to this mountain. One side is your life as ruled by your circumstances. The other side is truth, who you actually are; where you and I don't have to daydream about how things could be any longer. Now that other side of the mountain, it's sweet; isn't it? I almost feel myself being wrapped in a cocoon of that Dove chocolate just thinking about it. Now while we want to take the best, neglected parts of ourselves out of cold storage... damn! We've got company. Obstacles and Doubt at 12 0'clock.

So chief; you want to be happy? Great! Just climb up this mountain, and ride down a river of Dos Equis to a heavenly valley below. But I may be stretching the truth a bit. It's not an utopia your trying to get to here. It's harmony. We've all got ambition. Some go to college, some get jobs, some just say to hell with it and try to give their one shot to their dream. But how many of us can honestly say without a tinge of regret that we are doing what we want to do in life? I can honestly say that a few years ago I wouldn't have imagined myself being where I am; I bet a lot of you could say the same. Yet there are so many obstacles. There's one I want to really focus on though. Sure, you've got your life circumstances, health, money, parents, lifestyle, religion; the list of excuses and reasons can last longer than Stride Gum. But how about Illusion? Escape? Our overextended stays in Dream Land are not doing us any favors.

I'll be the first to say that I dream a lot. I don't want to admit to myself that I have no idea of what I'm doing in life. With daily news that should come with a hefty dose of Xanax... that ain't helping. So a tactical retreat into the safe confines of our mind, it provides the temporary Band-Aid we need. But the idea of slapping mental Band-Aids onto chronic life woes is just not appealing. We could go through our whole lives only being ourselves and only doing what we really wanted to do in our own heads. It's not hard to believe. Mental escapes prevent us from facing that mountain summit... kinda like House and his pain meds. It's nice to live in dreams, but you can't climb a mountain half asleep.

So we've circled back. What do you think we should do? That point of radical change is vital; some reach their point and decide that they want to fly. Some can't take the pressure of reality and gravity pummels them back to earth with an invisible fist. But what is life? Maybe to you it's just a series of moments. To some it's a highly organized machine of schedules and appointments. For the ones sitting in desolate rooms watching time slowly pass on a clock, life is a countdown. But life can be anything. It's all relative, isn't it? We'll spend a long time trying to find out who we are, but maybe we already know. And maybe, just maybe, we know that things aren't going the way we imagined. What's the only issue here? Can you fight past the circumstances of your life? Can you wake up and trade the fake security of dreams for a golden feeling of happiness that so few get to have? That's the only question. Can you and I make the leap, and get over that mountain?