Apr 4, 20232 min read

Which mountain are you facing today?.....

Updated: Apr 22

It always seems impossible ... until it's done.

A wonderful quote from Nelson Mandela, and whilst he no doubt had truly 'big' things in mind when he made this statement, it rings true for all of us, facing our everyday lives too.

Facing the mountain

Sometimes, we all need to find courage, strength and resilience to achieve goals, to face challenges, but we need to show ourselves compassion at these times too.

We need to tell our bodies and our minds, that it’s ok if this is difficult today. It's ok if what we are finding difficult is simple to others, because it’s likely that they find something hard that we find easy. We need to consider the kindness and support we would show others if they were facing a challenge and turn that compassion to ourselves.

A little help from your friends

You may recall last year I did the Mighty Marathon hike and at times I needed my companions to talk me through 'the wall' when I found the going hard. Similarly, the roles were reversed at other points on the hike. For none of us can be super-human all the time, nor should we be. And that’s ok to know too.

Picture of success

To help you, help yourself, imagine how you will feel when the challenge is complete. Give that feeling a word, a colour, an image, consider what your body is doing when you feel this word ... For example, you might think 'success' (or relief!) and you notice that your head is held high, you're smiling, your shoulders are relaxed.

Then when you are facing your challenge and your body and brain are telling you it’s too hard. Take a moment and stop. Say "Stop" if it helps. Then recall that word and image, remember how you sat or stood, feel the colour and say the word, over and over to yourself. Feel the smile coming to your face, the relaxation to your shoulders, the laugh in your chest.