Climb High, Sleep Low

CLIMB HIGH, SLEEP LOW

Have you ever felt like life was going along pretty well for you and that you were getting close to the top of some of “your high places” and you ran out of steam just before you reached the summit?  I wonder what your response to this has been because many times mine has been to trudge on and experience no gain.  This is the time to understand and act on climbing high and sleeping low.  This concept comes from high mountain climbers who reach the highest part of  a mountain and understand that if they are really  to summit they must go back down into lower altitudes and sleep or rest before they go on.  How great it would be if we could do that in our lives…to recognize  those moments when going on is defeating us but going back will be the key to success.  Why is it so hard for us to realize that  to constantly push, push, push not only results in no gain, but also leaves us behind.   To reach those really high places we need to  be careful to balance rest, exercise, and sleep and to know WHERE to do each of these. Ed Viesturs in K2:  Life and Death on the World’s Most Dangerous Mountain, reminds us that, “No summit is worth dying for; you can always come back.”  If you learn to climb high and sleep low, you not only can come back, but you most likely will summit.