How do you eat an elephant?

How do you eat an elephant?

How do you eat an elephant? How do you climb a mountain? One bite at a time and one step at time. Landing or standing at the mountain top is so seductive. 

I’m sure there is a way we can just land at the top. We get a lucky break and are handed the “title;” we take a shortcut; or we buy our way there-- hire a helicopter to drop us at the top. And trust me these are all extremely tempting *cough* I wanted to try. But then I ask myself if I did, would I ever really learn anything new? 

Tony Robbins once wrote, “Often we are caught in a mental trap of seeing enormously successful people and thinking they are where they are because they have some special gift. Yet a closer look shows that the greatest gift that extraordinarily successful people have over the average person is their ability to get themselves to take action.”

I don’t believe any one person is more special than the other. Our individual specialness exists deep within and it is what we bring to the climb that reveals itself as special and gives us meaning.

It is action, daring the climb, it’s the steps we take, the falling down and standing back up. It’s the pain of struggle and the joy of success. But mostly it’s a yearning in our hearts that bring us to this point. 

And it is the climb up that makes us come alive; the experience that transforms us. It is the determination and perseverance and self- reflection that ensures when we get there, we are not the same person we were when we started. 

In the movie Kung Fu Panda when the village is under attack, Po returns to the family business of noodles disappointed because he’s been training to defend his village against evil and he finds there is no wisdom written on the ancient scroll. He feels he’s not the chosen one. As Po walks in complete discouragement his father reveals to him the secret ingredient to their famous soup. 

He tells Po, “[I] Don’t have to [add a secret ingredient]. To make something special, you just have to believe it’s special.” Po opens the scroll, sees his reflection and finds that HE is the special ingredient (https://youtu.be/MiE4UI5mfaA).

Like Po, YOU are the answer you’ve been waiting for. You are special. You are enough. You were made for this! You are here to make the climb. And it’s what you bring to the climb that will make you come alive. 

No matter where you are on the journey make a commitment to put one foot in front of the other and keep going; take one bite at a time. And always remember, the only impossible climb, is the one we don’t make.

So when you stand at your base camp looking up and wish you could just land there, like I once did, I hope you choose the hike up. Plus, taking the hike you’ll have so many better stories to share with others struggling to make the climb. And the best part about it all is that I’ll be hiking right next to you. Because you are not alone. You are never alone. I am always with you.

-Coach Z

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