Someday is NOT A Day on the Calendar!

Someday is NOT A Day on the Calendar!

Why Shoot for Everest When You Can Climb Olympus Mons??

I’m guessing you’ve probably never heard of Olympus Mons. 

But I’m sure you’ve heard of Mt. Everest, right? Well, to put this in perspective the peak of Olympus Mons is 69,841 ft. The peak of Mt Everest...29,029 feet. Yeah, nearly three times as tall as what we all consider to be the summit of summits when it comes to mountains. 

So why don’t we know about Olympus Mons? Well it’s because it’s a volcano on Mars. You’re probably thinking ‘why the heck would I care about a mountain peak on Mars?’ Understood. It’s foreign, more than likely none of us will ever venture to Mars in our lifetime let alone into outer space. But the point being is, our greatest mountain top, the peak we feel like we are unable to get to in our life, the toughest climb we have ever taken, there is more. Much more out there. It’s our perspective, Everest doesn’t seem as daunting anymore now that we know about Olympus Mons, right? 

Nirmal Purja stared Mt. Shishapangma in the face. The 14th highest peak on Earth. The final mountain on the journey to scale the 14 highest peaks on the planet. A feat that had rarely ever been done before. And not even close to the pace that Nirmal was on. 

Nirmal conquered the 26,335 foot giant in Nepal, Purja and after he was back at base camp he let out a sigh of relief and a ‘mission accomplished.’  (nbcnews.com) 
Purja had just shattered the record for climbing the world’s 14 tallest peaks in a record of 189 days, shattering the previous record by nearly eight years. 

Unbelievable, right?

Now, it might come to a surprise to you that you probably have never heard of Nirmal. I was shocked this story wasn’t as big as it was. Why wasn’t Nirmal all over Good Morning America, the Late Show, every media outlet in the world? That would seem logical, right? 

But what you have to understand about Nirmal is the same reason why he didn’t climb Mt. Everest last, it wasn’t about the accomplishment to impress anyone else. He didn’t need a parade or celebration to feel good about himself. He knew there was more, he knew deep down that no amount of mountains he climbed would bring him ultimate peace and happiness. He knew there was an Olympus Mons out there. And he was perfectly ok with it. 

Nims (what he is called by most) understood that there is always going to be a mountain in our lives looming higher than we think we can climb. There is always going to be the struggle of feeling like we are climbing a mountain daily. Feeling like we just got to the peak of Everest and there are nearly two more Everest’s to climb to actually reach the top of Olympus Mons. 

It’s a feeling that can overwhelm us, even send us tumbling back down the mountain in an avalanche of self-pity. But not Nims, he knew the secret: live each day not based on the mountain you are facing, there will always be a mountain, live each day on the mountain you are moving. (Or scaling in his case)

We don’t have to feel the burden of always climbing a mountain, with another higher peak we will have to reach. We can feel the peace and the joy that we are moving mountains. Our encouragement to others when times are tough, our ‘I’ll hold your hand through this difficult moment’ when we know our loved ones need us the most, that’s how we truly conquer mountains.

1% ACTION

Right now, drop everything and do 20 mountain climbers where you are at. Yeah, drop down and give me 20!! ; )  And when you do imagine that you are conquering the most difficult task that looms ahead of you in your life. You can see yourself at the peak, you have not only accomplished it you have DOMINATED it! You can do it!  Do 20 mountain climbers daily and your mind will trigger your subconscious that you can overcome ANY insurmountable mountain looming ahead.