Death Mountain: Money is not the Peak.

Will Smith said he prayed everyone in the world could get what they ever wanted, climb up that peak so high just for them to realize that that wasn’t it. It wasn’t what most people termed “success”. I agreed with him because I have come across people who have so much more than I do, their responsibilities and worries are things I can only dream of for now, yet, they see their life as a curse. It doesn’t make sense to me that this person I know doesn’t ever have to worry about food or transportation, makes six figures monthly, good looking with an academic background that makes your jaw hit the floor, a significant other who is —as they say— drop dead gorgeous and yet, he feels like something is missing. He isn’t happy. He has everything he could ever want and he isn’t happy, so he starts making poor decisions just to feel something.

I believe that every person we meet, every place we find ourselves was written down in the book of destiny. Nothing is a coincidence or a mistake. Life would thrust you into places you otherwise won’t go to and you would find that you either learn from the experience or get limited by it. I have come to realize that in the long run, no experience is a bad one. We have bad moments, horrific ones even, which come with events of chaos and utter despair, but they only last for a moment. These moments end up as strips in your life’s collection — your story. You can become an inspiration or a lesson to learn from. It always boils down to that choice.

So, I was wondering during one of those introspective sessions of mine, how low can we go and how high can we climb?

I have been in my lowest of lows and I still see people at rock bottom. I do not for one second think I am better than they are or work harder than they do. I just attribute it all to mercy. That and the fact that we all have different aspirations despite the fact we climb the same mountain. Some have stopped climbing, comfortable with resting in that cave in the middle, others still climb collecting bruises and battle scars. We have those who fall and still crawl back up, time and time again.

In all these things as we forge ahead in camaraderie, acknowledging our efforts and being a source of encouragement to each other, we know there is a peak. This mountain has a peak and the bodies at the foot of it send shivers down our spines. We don’t know what is up there except that as we climb, people fall. They drop in twos and threes, a cacophony of voices and stories broken. We pause, we look down, many never survived the fall, only a few crawl towards this deathly mountain again with their maimed legs, eyes ablaze with monstrous desire.

We keep climbing, silently rooting for those who are coming up behind us as we focus on what keeps us going. So many times distraction sets in, a cave of comfort of false promises of instant gold. Many fall for it, we do not. We press on, aiding those who have gone ahead and need a push, catching those we can as they fall, pulling those who yearn as we go up. It is a death mountain.

In simple words, life is that mountain. Our goals and dreams are the “peak” of that mountain. There will be distractions and you may likely fall but if you have to, crawl back and start again. The bodies at the foot of the mountain didn’t die from the fall, they died from despair. They reached their peak and they still came crashing down. They made the whole money and still lost it.

So I do not believe for any reason that money is everything you need for a happy life. That is a lie because success is never about money. You can have all the money and still be a failure. Our generation has reduced radiant life to common paper, money is their master and dictates their mood. The truth is the life you build as you lay the field for planting is what matters because a time will come when the sun will set on that mountain and you could find yourself reaping seeds you sowed on a healthy soil or the consequences of your actions. Just how low is low and how high is high?