I enjoy hiking with my sister and have racked up many miles through our years on foot with some stunning scenery along the way. As little girls, we would hike with our dad in the summers while on vacation in the mountains. We would always look up in awe of the daunting task ahead wondering if our momentum and little legs would get us to the top. When we reached the top, our faces beamed with pride, taking in the view and changing our perspective with greater confidence in place.

Dad always understood why we all need to climb a mountain every now and then; it was his quiet way of teaching us about life. When we climbed mountains, faced challenges, hurdled obstacles, and learned from difficult situations, we were reminded we have the strength and power to overcome life’s challenges, just like the strength and power needed to hike to the top of the mountain.

At first even a little mountain may seem like a big insurmountable mountain. But when you step back and climb it you realize you DO have the strength and power to achieve results. After all, the mountain, no matter how big it is, is no match for your faith and desire to climb it–attitude and effort are everything in life (and in climbing mountains). Mountains are meant to be climbed. Wounds are meant to be healed; problems are meant to become learning experiences. They all serve a purpose by making us stronger mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

While we often can’t control what happens to us, we can control how we see and climb the mountains in our life (attitude and effort again). We can look at mountains as being in the way or as THE WAY to personal growth and success. We always have a choice. We can stand at the bottom overwhelmed and possibly defeated, or we can dig down deep and find the very best in ourselves and fearlessly hike the mountain. Here’s to all of us hiking this week and onward through the remainder of the school year!