Mantra Monday: How to Climb a Mountain

August 16, 2021August 16, 2021

Each year there are two weeks of the year where I struggle. This is one of them. I work in higher education. Though I am not an instructor, my life follows the academic year. This is the week of meetings, faculty returning, students moving in and a ramping up of work and pace. The easier workdays and flextime shortened workweeks are over. Carefully saved vacation days have been used. The heat is here, but summer is over. I like our students and the work we do, but I mourn the loss of longer days and the sense of freedom summer gives me. I am also seriously thinking about if I want to continue my current employment.

This morning my prayer did not provide my usual sense of peace. I still felt unsettled. My mind wanted to spiral with tales of personal woe. The energy in my body was jittery. I picked up a book of poetry and asked for a message. This is what I read:

I wake up
And face my work
Which is always larger than me
Then I remember that my job
Is mostly in the doing
And rarely in the outcome

It is through the doing that
I can afford to trust each step
Ever moving
Toward my dream

How to Climb a Mountain
Valerie June Hockett

I will focus on my steps and remember that my work includes my employment, but my purpose is larger than my day gig. Soon enough and many steps later next summer will not be a dream.