Looking Down the Mountain

We just recorded our 107th and final Meaning Over Money podcast episode of the year. That’s two episodes per week plus three bonus episodes. After typing that number, even I second-guessed whether that’s true. 107? Wow! That’s more than 30 hours of finished product content. Did that really happen? How did that happen?!?

Truth is, it didn’t feel like a lot as we were living it out. It was episode by episode, day by day, one foot in front of the other. It’s like climbing a mountain. While we’re in the midst of the climb, it doesn’t feel like we’re making a lot of progress. We climb, climb, and climb, and the peak doesn’t seem to get much closer. It’s only when we turn around and look down, we realize how far we’ve come. We know we’ve been climbing for a while, but it’s breathtaking to see just how high we are when we take a moment to look back.

I think this is a perfect metaphor for so many areas of life. Through all the hustle and bustle, comings and goings, we often fail to look down the mountain to see just how far we’ve come. In our finances, fitness, relationships, careers, skills, experience, faith, and so many more. Instead, we spend our time beating ourselves up, wishing we were better, and comparing ourselves to someone else. Instead of being proud and content with what we accomplished, we fixate on everything we wish we had done. Instead of celebrating the wins, we dwell on the losses. Or maybe that’s just me…..

If 21-year-old me could hop in a time machine to see what 41-year-old me would accomplish over those 20 years, I think he’d be pleased. It’s been an awfully steep mountain. I wish I would look down more often.