Day 089i: Cresting the next Great Summit … (July 12, 2019)
The horizon-long ridge just past Castrojeriz proper may not seem like much from afar, and yet all pilgrims soon come to know its steeper & more tiring truth. The small train of early pilgrims steadily slowed both before and behind me as we all trudged up that hot & dusty path. The way was a gradual one, fair enough, and yet so gradual that it provided pilgrims with the illusion that they weren’t ever getting any closer to the summit. More than a few of my fellow travelers were passed that mid-morning, stalled out in frowning resignation at the Sisyphean endlessness of the task at hand. In contrast, I was able to find a hidden satchel of energy by directly embracing that seeming hopelessness; doing so by not only slightly increasing my pace when walking and or turning to revel in the majestic view when paused, but also by collecting many pounds of future Peace Stones found along the route and carrying them with me to the top and beyond …
“And then you realize that the story of your life can easily be told a thousand different ways, that you could tell well tell it over & over & over again as a tragedy, and yet you have chosen instead to recite it as an epic. And that’s when you start to learn what real celebration is – when what you have lived is far outside of what you had dreamed, and yet you still have the humility & the boldness to call it beautiful instead of wrong. That is how to honor this blessed life we have all been given – that is real celebration.” ~ inspired by Shauna Niequist
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