“You cannot stay on the summit forever; you have to come down again. So why bother in the first place? Just this: What is above knows what is below, but what is below does not know what is above. One climbs, one sees. One descends, one sees no longer, but one has seen. There is an art of conducting oneself in the lower regions by the memory of what one saw higher up. When one can no longer see, one can at least still know.” – Rene Daumal
Today friends, let’s remember that the quality of our lives are marked, not by how much time we spend at the peak of the summit, but by our ability to remember what we’ve seen there. Even when we’re in the depths of the valley. Especially when we’re in the depths of the valley.
Because it’s easy to have faith when our faith isn’t being tested.
To stand in our truth when that truth isn’t being questioned.
To believe in a world of abundance and generosity when we’re confronted with proof of its existence.
But we can’t stay on the summit forever.
At some point, we will no longer be able to see what we know to be true. And the longer we go without seeing, the more we’ll want to question whether we ever really saw it at all.
But friends, I’m here to tell you that what you’ve seen is real. That what you know is true. And that at this very moment, in this very place, you are being called, not to fight your way back up to the summit, but to paint your truth from memory. To will yourself to remember what light looks like, even when you’re being swallowed by darkness. To believe in what you’ve seen, even when you can no longer see it.
This is the art of life.
Our greatest and most challenging work.
Not to mention, the fastest way back up the mountain.