I am sitting here typing this in a hotel room in Ashford, Washington. Tomorrow I will make a summit attempt on Mt. Rainier, the 14,410 ft volcano that, on lucky days, graces the skyline of Seattle and reminds the population why they put up with all the rain. This life list item, if completed, will mean I have passed the halfway mark on my life list.
Before starting to write this post, I exchanged friendly tweets with the person who now has my old job. (From what I can tell, Cyrus is doing a fantastic job) It was right after hitting send that the magnitude of how much my life has changed in the past eight months came into focus. My life is now completely different (new home, new job, new friends and a completely new lifestyle) and it all started with a single decision.
The single best decision I have ever made wasn’t leaving my old lifestyle and moving to Buenos Aires. It wasn’t surrounding myself with interesting places, things or people. It wasn’t even the choice I made to actively love more. These things all made my life better but were merely the results of a much bigger decision.
The single best decision I have ever made was to choose a direction in life and fully and uninhibitedly commit myself to it. The direction itself was irrelevant, (in this case, I chose pursing my life list) but the fact that I fully committed myself was the factor that forever changed how I think of myself and my potential.
I didn’t hesitate and ask what if, I didn’t wait for more data and I didn’t ask for more opinions. I was nervous as hell but made the conscious decision to grab my life by the throat and live it my way. I made the decision to pursue my life list and in order to accommodate that, I radically changed everything about my life to pour all of myself into my new focus.
I sit here on the eve of climbing the biggest physical mountain of my life and smile. The real battle has already been won. The mental mountain has already been climbed.
Which summit is next for you?
