When you look at the difficulties and opportunities that face you in life, it is easy to make to do lists that make it feel like you are about to ascend a mountain.
You know that the climb will be tough and that there are many factors that you won’t be able to account for. The terrain, the weather, the people you will meet along the way, and many other things are all factors that you cannot predict, regardless of your expertise in “climbing mountains.”
You know that it is far more difficult to go uphill than to go in the other direction, so you set your mind like a flint to accomplish the task of going up the mountain.
Climbing to the mountain top will be slow, and you lack the information needed for every unpredictable event. You prepare for the worst, hoping to God that everything will go well.
Your mind is made up that you are going to climb that killer mountain, so you make a to-do list of everything that comes to mind about supplies and things that need to get done before the trip starts.
The day comes when you begin your uphill climb, and you have no problems on the trail for the first day of the trip. You even get one leg above the basecamp and then comes an unexpected out-of-the blue, un-forecasted blizzard that hits you like a hurricane!
Its right before nightfall, so you decide to go back to your first basecamp. You hunker down in your tent and hope for the best.
You planned with all your might and even brought a shovel but discovered that the weather was far more powerful than you, as you needed something more like a highway salt truck with a snowplow on the front to get out of this problem.
The long and short of it is that you are so wearied from the storm that you end up giving up on the hike and decide to descend the mountain to the warm cabin in the valley below.
Now isn’t that so much like a to-do list whose goals never quite get finished?
Yes, and it gets even worse…
…the reality of things is that the to-do list is fair and not hard to finish, but like the blizzard that unexpectedly hits just when you think all is going to be fine, your to-do list is just as prone to not getting finished due to unexpected and unforeseen problems that lie ahead.
Sometimes you just plain need to abandon a project to take on other responsibilities. It doesn’t happen with every list, but once in a while it does, because life really is unpredictable at times.
That, my friend, is just like going on an uphill mountain climb, not knowing the speed of the trek nor the events that will cause you problems that could end your excursion.
If you focus on the failure aspects of not accomplishing your goals on the to-do list that you have made, then it can put you in a bad mindset of being down in the dumps or having a bad case of the blues if you let it get to you.
On the other hand, if you compare downhill skiing to an uphill climb, you will find that it is similar in nature to it, as you can have similar pitfalls going down the mountain, but the speed of the descent is a whole lot less strenuous, especially since you are on skiis!
It is far more enjoyable, as far as I am concerned, to go downhill skiing than to ascend a dangerous mountain that could potentially get me killed over unpredictable weather or other factors.
It is true that some people die downhill skiing, but mountain climbing has a higher fatality rate, as it is much more risky.
According to Microsoft’s Message Copilot system, the following comparison is true:
“Mountain climbing generally has a higher fatality rate due to the extreme conditions and technical challenges involved. Downhill skiing, while still risky, tends to have a lower fatality rate, with most incidents occurring in recreational settings.”
The same is true of making a to-do list of things that do not work verses a list of things that will work and are to be done.
When you go through a process of elimination and get the things out of your life that DO NOT WORK FOR YOU, it is much like the way Thomas Edison invented the filament for the electric light bulb.
“Thomas Edison and his team conducted thousands of experiments to find the right filament for the electric light bulb. Some sources suggest he tested over 6,000 materials and made approximately 10,000 attempts before achieving success. His persistence is often celebrated as a testament to determination and innovation.”
When you look at life from this perspective, then the comparison that you contemplate between the uphill mountain climb and the downhill mountain skiing descent makes a whole lot more sense.
- Though you may have avalanches and bad weather on the downhill skiing side of the comparison, you usually can outski both of them or get out of their way by hiding in a ski cabin or jumping onto a good pine tree down the mountain trail – if you are lucky enough anyway!
- It is also fun to outrun an avalanche if you are a good enough or crazy enough skier to attempt it.
- In downhill skiing, avalanches sometimes occur, but not near as often as freak blizzards on mountains.
- Downhill skiing is also a most loved sport, so if you happen to be wise enough to cross out the things that you should avoid when skiing (ravines, trees, avalanches, icy areas, etc.), then likewise, as you avoid and cross off your to-do list all of the negative, too difficult, or “just plain not for you” things in life, you will be gratefully removing them from your life and getting on with a much better tomorrow! Basically what remains on the list is like a new list that will help you to achieve your goals, considering that they too are achievable and helpful tasks.
- Because you are thinking like Thomas Edison, you have more joy over your supposed failures, which you cross off your list as “unnecessaries” in your life and go on with a much more promising future. The reason for your joy is that you have effectively removed ineffective elements from your life and proceeded with those that work.
One of Michael Jordan’s most famous quotes about failure and success is:
“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
This quote highlights his perspective on embracing failure as a steppingstone to greatness.
https://lifeispositive.com/top-10-michael-jordan-failure-quotes/?form=MG0AV3&form=MG0AV3
The iconic phrase from the 1991 Gatorade commercial with Michael Jordan, “I want to be like Mike” makes sense here.
It goes without saying that when you consider life from a descending versus an ascending perspective, your life will not only be filled with more joy and a whole lot less heartache, but you will see more victories quicker!
It is all about perspective and how you interpret the problems you encounter along the trail.
Just as more people throw in the towel and quit when it comes to “uphill climbing to do lists,” it is easy to see that more people win at life in accomplishing their goals when the “downhill skiing descent to do list” of eliminating “undesirables” and then having a to do list that works for them comes into play.
As the saying goes, “It’s all downhill from here!”
I hope this contemplative comparison has been helpful to you and that you avoid the blues of the uphill climb as you enter into joy by seeing life through the skiing goggles (or sunglasses) of a downhill skier!
Peace and Grace to You!
Take Care of Yourself and Have A Great Downhill Trip – God Bless You!
Sincerely,
Paul J. Eberhardt – Author
A Paul J. Eberhardt Weekly Illuminator Original
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