I yearned to be on top,
To reach the tip of the mountain.
I envisioned myself -
Jumping over rocks,
Kicking away the obstacles,
Gliding between the trees,
Flying up the steep incline,
In perfect balance
exhilarated .
Climbing higher
And higher
All the way up…
In reality ,
I see myself-
bumping into hard rocks ,
Blocked by obstacles,
Surrounded by dense trees,
Tumbling down the steep decline,
Losing my balance
bruised and bloodied.
Slipping lower
And lower
All the way down…
Then I heard a voice from high up
way way up there
My child, my dearest child
Please listen a moment
Take a step off the mountain
And come beside me
See the valley
Down there below?
That, my child, is where you started
Realize how far you’ve climbed ,
How many rocks you did jump over,
How many obstacles you overcame,
How much of the steep incline
You did fly up
And now ,
Midway up the mountain,
You fell a few yards.
But -
you’re still miles ahead
From where you started
And just like I was holding you
when you were climbing up
I was hugging you tightly
While you were sliding.
And one more thing ,
Dear neshama,
This is the most important thing
To remember;
The point was never
To reach the top…
It was -
to continue climbing