Climbing the Summit

Life consists of multiple lines eventually intersecting at one or multiple points forming a complete journey.  These lines support all of humanity, whether or not there is a direct relationship.  We all contribute.  One of my lines, started a few months back, will become part of the bigger picture at the end of the month.  I regained the confidence necessary to carry me to the end, both literally and figuratively.  Today’s excursion added the finishing touches to a long road riddled with bumps and detours.  I walked out with my head held high with minimal injury. 
While waiting for my running partner I turned to the sun and did a few modified salutations to warm my body, set the tone and pay some respects to the Mother.  We took the direction less traveled and quickly descended the rocky trail with cold feet.  The sun pushed any clouds aside and lit up our pale skin.  Occasionally, stopping to catch our breath and wipe our brow we silently looked around, soaking in the beauty of this warm April day.  We had potential and used it to our advantage; our sore feet tackled the highs and lows the trail offers to it’s unsuspecting patrons. 
As we approached the fifth (or so) mile I knew the Summit wasn’t too far in the distance.  It seemed like we were at the lowest point as the climb began.  We pushed out of the tree lined trail and proceeded to hammer up the path littered with large rocks.  Without the protection of the cooling trees, the sun set my skin on fire motivating me to move faster.  I looked up to see the crest of the trail yield to a circular grassy patch overlooking the entire Valley.  Strangely enough (yet so perfect), a bench is parked in the center of the circle.  We jogged over to the bench – it was if we couldn’t sit fast enough – and admired the view in silence. 
Silence.
At that moment I accepted so much of me.  Getting there was an uphill battle, but I made it.  The reward of admiring the world from a distance, in silence, made the journey worth it.  The emotional and physical pain of the trail broke me down, but only made me stronger.  This became my driving force to conquer the Summit.  I stood up and really could see the forest for the trees.  Silence was interrupted with a slap of reality.  Guess I can’t run from everything.  Like a merry-go-round moving too fast I felt nauseous, but knew I had to fight to the finish.  With three (ish) miles left we pulled ourselves together for the last stretch.  No easy task, by any means, but we muscled through the remaining lows and highs to park ourselves under a tree in the cool grasses.