I remember my first time flying in an airplane.  I was going to meet up with my parents in Arizona while they were on vacation to stay with them.    I was a little nervous flying for the first time (that I could remember).  The thought of being, God knows how high in the air just strapped into a chair and a few feet of metal holding me there, seemed a bit nerve-racking.  But I was courageous enough to take the challenge and try and stay cool.  As we began to take-off and ascend into the air I was doing ok until we actually we air-born completely.  That feeling of dropping and turbulence was a new feeling that I wasn’t sure was normal or tragic.  But like a cool teenager I tried to look normal.  But then something happened that scared me to death, literally I thought I was going to die.  As we were ascending higher and higher my ear started to clog up and the pressure was building.  I had felt this sensation before driving, so I knew to try and yawn and open my mouth wide.  At first I was nonchalantly yawning and opening my wide mouth, but nothing was changing.  As a matter of fact the pressure just kept building and building.  I started to get a little nervous at this point as the right side of my head started twitching.  My eye was shaking and I literally felt like my eye ball was going to pop out of my head and go sailing to the front of the plane.  At this point I didn’t care who noticed.  I was yawing, wide mouthed, twisting, grunting, and wiggling my ears, as I grabbed my head in pain.  To make matters worse my neck started to tighten up, which caused me to tilt my head over in my neighbors “personal space”.  I thought I had met my end, not because the plane was going down, but because my head was going to explode.  Luckily just about the point when I was going to explode my ear popped and the pressure was released.  I think it blew my neighbors hair a bit as it vented out.  It was one of the craziest feelings I have ever had.

Life has some similarities as my experience in the airplane.  The higher you climb in life the more pressure there is.  The more you step up and ascend into your destiny the higher the price you have to pay.  It is easy to stay on the ground and never climb up the mountain of life.  But the truest sense of purpose is found on the mountaintop.  At the top you get perspective and accomplishment.  At the top is the summit, the highest place of success.  Many people aren’t willing to pay the price to go up, they are content with base camp.  Some try to climb but when the pressure gets to heavy they give up and quit.  But if we want to maximize our life and feel a sense of purpose we have to keep climbing.  We were designed to climb.  We were designed to explore.  We weren’t created to be average.  We were created by God and what God creates is incredible.  But too many times we settle for an average life.  Nobody wants average.  Nobody pays for average.  Nobody aspires to be average.  No, we were created for greatness.  We were created to ascend.

We are mountain climbers.  But we have to get into shape and get geared up.  We have to pack light for the journey.  Unexperienced climbers pack way too much.  But real mountain climbers only take what they need.  Don’t carry unnecessary bagging in life.  You have to give up in order to go up.  Give up the hurts, bitterness, unforgiveness, and pride that weighs you down.  Only take what is useful to make it to the top.

The higher you go in life the higher the price you have to pay.  Anything worth having cost something.  In order to live a successful life it will cost.  The price is different for everyone, but make no mistake there is a cost.  You have to give up to go up.  You have to leave the old behind to go to the new.  You have to leave anger, hurt, bitterness, pride, laziness, etc… behind if you want to climb higher in life.  Every mountain climber knows what to pack and what tools to take on a climbing expedition.  They do not carry more than they will need for it would weight them down.  So what do we need to pack in order to climb in life?

1. Hope

When you lose hope you lose your will to climb.  But where there is a will (hope) there is a way.  Hope is one of the most underrated attitudes we can have.  Hope will not take the place of hard work and skill but it certainly will keep you going.  There is no such thing as a hopeless situation, just hopeless people.  Within every circumstance in life there is hope…someway, somehow, somewhere.  Just because things didn’t turn out the way you expected is no reason to give up hope of things to come.  Your best days are ahead if you approach life with hope.  Nothing is impossible when we were created by THE God of possibilities.  How hopeful are you of the future?

2. Teachability  

You will not go far in life if you are not willing to learn and grow.  We don’t just go up the mountain of life we GROW UP the mountain of life.  We cannot possibly know everything that will happen to us as we climb the mountain of life.  We cannot foresee all the obstacles and challenges we may face.  But we can learn how to grow through them and make it up higher and higher.  Without a teachable attitude in life we will max out.  When we stop growing we stop altogether.  Growth = change.  If we are growing we will change.  Anything healthy grows.  It is dead things that stop growing.  If you are growing in life you will change. Change for the better and change your strategy and direction at times.  Just like a mountain climber has to learn how to navigate through the changing factors as he climbs, so we must learn how to change through the factors of life.  Are you learning through your circumstances?

3. Teamwork

On May 29, 1935 Edmund Hilary and Tenzing Norgay were the very first people to make it to the top of Mount Everest.  Many people tried before them but came up short and in many cases dead.  They did what no other human had ever done, they stood on the top of Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak! They could not have done it by themselves.  It took a team of people to make it to the top.  You and I cannot make the journey of life on our own, we need others.  We were created for community, we were created for relationship.  One is too small a number to achieve greatness.  If we are going to be successful in life it is going to take us developing good relationships with those who we can journey with.  When we work together we can accomplish great things.  Tenzing Norgay said this about teamwork…

“You do not climb a mountain like Everest by trying to race ahead on your own, or by competing with your comrades.  You do it slowly and carefully, by unselfish teamwork.  Certainly I wanted to reach the top by myself; it was the thing I had dreamed of all my life.  But if the lot fell to some one else I would take it like a man, and not a crybaby.  For that is the mountain way.”  

Who are those around you that you are journeying together with? Who are those around you that are lifters, lifting you to a higher level? Spend time developing those relationships, for they will be the ones that will take you places.

4. Determination

You do not get to the top without determination.  You do not climb a significant mountain without an unwavering sense of commitment to the journey.  Only climbing when you “feel like it” will never take you to the heights.  You only get to the top by hard work and endurance.  “Feeling like it” may get you started but it won’t keep you going.  You have to determine within yourself that NOTHING will hold you back from your dream to make it to the top.  Too many people give up short of their dreams because the terrain gets too rough for them.  When faced with obstacles and challenges they give up.  But in order to reach the top we have to fight through the set-backs and unforeseen challenges.  Always remember this…you can’t climb a smooth mountain.  It is the rocky places that we can use to become better and stronger in life.  What challenges do you face when it comes to climbing your dream? What can you do to keep your determination strong till the end? Identify the top 2 things that seem to hold you back and make a commitment to break through those things.  Get a plan to navigate through the challenges and you will begin to see progress.  Don’t allow Mission Drifting to occur in  your life, stay the course.