Pain and Gain

Desire is a gift from Above. Desire fuels our spiritual and emotional engines, motivates us and gives us the power to make a difficult climb to the peak in life that is our destination.
 
Imagine that you’re standing in a beautiful valley, at the base of a mountain. You’ve heard from people who have reached the top of the mountain how breath-taking the view is from up there. You also know the difficulties that others have had on the way up. But, the weather is gorgeous, you gaze once more at the peak, and you long to be there. The greater the desire, the more you feel surges of energy in your calves and quadriceps. Your body and your soul both seem to be telling you, “Get going! Start climbing – you can do it…”
 
Since this world is the world of free choice, every force is coupled with an opposite force. Good and evil are pitted against one another. Force must overcome gravity. Heat and cold oppose one another. Desire too has its nemesis obstacles.
 
Whenever we want to do something really important, especially in the process of achieving one of our lifelong goals, we encounter obstacles. This is a hard spiritual fact that’s inherent in creation.[1] The more that our goal is critical in performing our mission on earth, the greater the obstacles. Many people with the modern instant-gratification or path-of-least-resistance mentality say, “Hey, that’s not fair! Why do things get in my way?”

Looking at the world through spiritual eyes, one sees that obstacles are a gift. Obstacles fuel desire. Especially when it comes to climbing our own personal peak in life, the greater the obstacles, the more we desire to reach our goal. We see this in everyday life: put a lollipop in a toddler’s hands, and before he has a chance to remove the wrapping, grab it back. The toddler will most likely wail and start running after you to grab the lollipop. Before he encountered the obstacle – the adult who took away his lolly – he may have desired it. But now having encountered the obstacle, he desires the lollipop so much more.
 
People who become disheartened from an obstacle lack desire in the first place. Becoming discouraged from doing something merely means that you don’t want it that much.
 
Have you ever noticed how champion athletes endure pain and injuries on the way to achieving their goal? No professional football player wins a Super Bowl ring without having been hit really hard, repeatedly. A professional athlete will pay virtually any price to reach his peak of achievement, the league championship.
 
I have never seen a special-forces soldier with an obstacle-free life. In many units, life gets a lot easier after basic training. But, the more elite a unit is, the more its troops suffer difficulties and obstacles daily, with virtually no let-up. How and why are they prepared to do this? They believe in their mission – their personal peak – and are willing to do anything to accomplish what they have to do.
 
Let’s start climbing. We have our goal – the peak. We have our tools – the wonderful individual talents and aptitudes that The Creator has given us to fulfill our mission in life, our personal peak. We have our path up the mountain – we know what we need to do to reach the peak. The better we’ve prepared ourselves, the more proficiently we climb.
 
So we’re now on the way up, step after step. Our initial climb is exhilarating – the grade is not so steep and every step upwards reveals a better and more beautiful view.
 
Gradually, as we progress upwards, several things start to happen. No matter how well-conditioned we are, our breathing becomes more difficult. The grade gets progressively steeper and each step demands more energy. We reach a point where both our lungs and the muscles in our legs feel like they’re burning. We feel the pain of the climb. It’s not easy. The innocent looking peak, when seen from below, now looks so much more challenging.
 
With the air becoming thinner at the higher altitude, breathing becomes even more difficult. Maybe we’ve never learned anatomy, but we now become familiar with each individual muscle in our legs, for each one is crying out in pain.
 
Do we give up? For sure, not! Two things encourage us – another glance at the peak and the gorgeous view below. We never dreamed how beautiful the world could be, and the higher we go toward our goal, the more beautiful the world gets. This is not just a metaphor, but a fact of life.
 
The more we truly desire to reach our goal, the more we’ll be able to overcome any obstacle. So don’t say that you can’t reach your peak because there are obstacles along the way – that’s no excuse. When we truly desire to achieve something, leg pains, lung pains or any other obstacle won’t stand in our way. The gain is well worth the pain.
 
Keep climbing, and don’t ever be discouraged. Our desires invoke obstacles, but the obstacles fuel our desires. Remember that always, and you’ll make it to the top of your own personal peak – it’s within your reach. Pick up a copy of Six Days to the Top, and you’ll have an effective strategy of how to be the very best that you can and maximize your potential. You can succeed!