"It's All About The Climb" ~ Miley Cyrus

I am not a huge Miley Cyrus fan. I've never seen Hannah Montana, nor am I familiar with most of her music. This song, however, definitely has a message.

So often in life we are so focused on The END, The GOAL, The ACHEIVEMENT, that we forget about the process.

The process IS our life!

We can't forget that the climb to achieve the goal is what makes the success of achieving it so sweet.

Enjoy the moment.

 Bask in the difficulty.

 Breathe in the struggle.

Feel the sweat.

 Embrace the challenge.

And remember, "It's all about the climb!"

The Climb lyrics
Songwriters: Alexander, J; Mabe, J;

I can almost see it

That dream I am dreaming

But there's a voice inside my head saying

"You'll never reach it"

Every step I'm taking

Every move I make feels

Lost with no direction

My faith is shaking

But I gotta keep trying

Gotta keep my head held high

There's always gonna be another mountain

I'm always gonna wanna make it move

Always gonna be a uphill battle

Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there

Ain't about what's waiting on the other side

It's the climb

The struggles I'm facing

The chances I'm taking

Sometimes might knock me down

But no, I'm not breaking

I may not know it

But these are the moments that

I'm gonna remember most, yeah

Just gotta keep going

And I, I got to be strong

Just keep pushing on

'Cause there's always gonna be another mountain

I'm always gonna wanna make it move

Always gonna be a uphill battle

Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there

Ain't about what's waiting on the other side

It's the climb, yeah!

There's always gonna be another mountain

I'm always gonna wanna make it move

Always gonna be an uphill battle

Somebody's gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there

Ain't about what's waiting on the other side

It's the climb, yeah!

Keep on moving, keep climbing

Keep the faith, baby

It's all about, it's all about the climb

Keep the faith, keep your faith, whoa

I wrote this post a couple of weeks ago. I was reminded this weekend, after a difficult time with my anxiety, of the truth of the words I wrote, and the truth of Miley's song. I was also reminded that sometimes the climb takes a fork to the left or right of the original path, and that this change of direction still can lead us to our final destination.

I went for a hike with friends. The path we were on suddenly became quite narrow with a very steep drop off on the right. I forced myself to continue for awhile, despite my paralyzing fear. At a certain point however, I could no longer continue on that path. My fear, my anxiety, was too great. We turned around.

Was this a failure?

We found another path, with a steeper climb up, but no cliffside, to walk along. Eventually we reached the destination we had been aiming for on the prior path: a small beautiful reservoir.

Life is a journey; a climb. Sometimes, though, the path will lead us to a new direction. This detour does not mean we cannot reach our goal. Nor does it mean that the goal will be less beautiful for having taken a different path to reach it.

Just like with the rules, if your path is not serving you well to reach your goal, then *you* have the power to change your path. There is no failure or shame in changing the path. There is more than one path to take, and very often, there is no one right path...just the best path for you at that time.

So, take the high path, take the fork in the road, change direction if the path isn't working for you.....and, most importantly: don't forget to breathe!