When you reach the top, keep reaching.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/121483302@N02/14372766712

Will you ever been done with your journey?  Do you want to be done with the journey?  When you reach the top is there anywhere else to go or climb?  Is there ever a time when we will have done everything and there is nothing left to conquer?  There are some people who will tell you that they have done everything they were supposed to do in life.  I don't doubt that they may have accomplished a lot, but done with everything?  I doubt it.  I don't say that because I want them to feel like a failure, I say that because if you are still alive, then there is obviously something more for you to do.

I think that most people would agree that climbing Mount Everest is a pretty tough undertaking, and if you have what it takes to make this journey then my hat is off to you.  If you are one of, or know of one who has climbed the highest peak in the world, is there really anything left to conquer after that?  Some would say that you have done the impossible, but as I like to remind people, nothing is impossible.  That being said, what do you do after you have tamed the most dangerous climb in the world?  What could you possibly do that would be more impressive or more life altering?  If you reach the top of any successful endeavor was it anti-climactic?  I mean if you have just done the impossible what could possibly be more impressive?  Is there even a need to keep reaching?

My answer to the "keep reaching" is yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and more yes.  Each step of success, or even failure, gets us one step closer to our destiny.  Each time we navigate our life and those moments in our life when we finish a task, we are one step closer to our destiny.  Too many people end their journey before it's really begun.  Simply because you have achieved a modicum of success doesn't mean that there is nothing left to do.  Once again, if you are still upright and breathing, there are other things that you need to tend to.  I think of so many people who have accomplished great things, but it's what they did after they accomplished great things that really has helped redesigned this world.  Look at Neal Armstrong who walked on the moon.  Now the average person would think that there was not much more he could have done, but think of the lives that were touched by this man who took one small step for man, but one giant leap for mankind.  How many lives were touched by this man after he returned to this planet?  There are people on top of people who have continued to touch the lives of others after they have accomplished great marvels.

Most of the things we do in life are nothing more then stages of life.  We have to finish one stage before we can move on to the next.  Each stage represents a building block, a stepping stone, to even greater things.  Those greater things are what will keep another moving in the right direction.  Heck if so and so can do such I thing, then so can I.  Seeing others achieve great things motivates most people to try great things.  Sure there's always the chance of failure, but show me one super successful person who hasn't experienced their share of failure.  Babe Ruth who was once the home run king struck out many more times then he hit a homer.  I dare say that Jack Nicholas has had just as many poor shots as he has had outstanding shots.  No one is going to hit the bulls eye every time, but if you never aim and fire, then you can pretty well count on not hitting anything.

So why do I think it's important to keep reaching?  When you stop dreaming you stop living.  When you stop dreaming you begin to die slowly.  When you stop dreaming you are saying that life has ceased to have meaning.  We dream because we are alive.  We have dreams because you were designed to do more.  We have dreams because what we do today is going to affect others in the future.  What you dream today is going to have a ripple effect, and those dreams are what others are going to need to be catapulted toward their destiny.  No man/women is a island unto him/herself.  When you do something it will always have an effect on others.

I know how tiring life can be at times.  I get the struggles that most of us have had throughout our lives.  I totally understand when some people will just want to throw up their hands and give up.  Don't do it.  Don't give in to those around you who keep telling you that it's just not worth it.  Trust me, going after your dreams is always going to be worth it.  There is a quote I remember that I read for the first time in 1978 as I was flying to my first duty station in England.  I have no idea why I have always remembered this, but I have, and I believe it as much today as I did back then.  "I would rather attempt something great and fail, then attempt nothing at all and succeed."  I honestly can't remember who said this, or whether to person got it from someone else, I guess it doesn't really matter.  What matters is that you try, and don't worry about the outcome.  Success is laced with failures, and some of biggest successes have come from the biggest failures.

Yes Everest is formidable.  Yes there will be things laid in front of you that may seem impossible to accomplish.  You however are equipped to handle any situation.  Outcomes may never be exactly how you thought of them, but they will be the outcomes that need to be.  Trust in the perfection of the Universe.  Trust that you will fulfill your destiny.  Trust that others will benefit from you not stopping when you reached the top, but rather decided to go even farther.