Photo: Daraga, Philippines

I have always viewed my life like a journey up a mountain. Today, I rode my bicycle up Bai Guo Shan, shan means mountain in Chinese. It was a very difficult and tiring ride. As I was slowly rode up this challenging shan, I had a lot of realizations.

I realized that when I ride my bicycle up a mountain, it is a very slow process. I have to work very hard, the sweat rolls off my body, even my arms! We cannot go up mountains very quickly. Even if we are very strong, climbing up a mountain is still in the slow category. No matter how hard we try, the mountains makes us aware of each pedal stroke, each step along it's path. We cannot rush.

So as this idea was brought to my attention, I realized that we cannot rush this journey. If we rush, we will burn out and not make it to the top. We need to take it easy, climb the mountain at a steady pace and enjoy the scenery as we go by. Bonnie said "Climbing a mountain is not an easy thing." I don't know why I ever thought it was!

As we continue the mountain of life, we need to be aware that it's not always going to be easy. Parts will be difficult. At times the mountain will flatten out a bit and give us a break. But remember, that the switchbacks will come and keep us always reaching for the top, forks in the path will arise and we will have to make a choice.

The future will always be unforeseen, this is why we must focus on what we have, TODAY.