AT 11:30 a.m. on 29 May 1953, Edmund Hillary of New Zealand, and Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa of Nepal, become the first explorers to reach the summit of Mount Everest, which at 29,035 feet above sea level is the highest point on earth! Ah the joy of winning! Whether it’s the building of an empire or raising of family and children or the climbing up of a formidable mountain! But winning doesn’t come easy.
When Sir Edmond Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay successfully scaled Mt. Everest, Hillary commented: “Without a strong inclination to overcome and achieve you simply wouldn’t try to climb Everest. It’s a very tedious, miserable slog. But if you can persist and get to the top, there’s a great feeling of satisfaction. In life, I think everyone is battling a mountain like Everest and the key to success is the same!”
We all battle mountains, sometimes everyday is a climb up a mountain, but with every step up, we build muscle. Hilary and Tenzing, we would like to believe made it to the top like a breeze, but they didn’t. There must have been days of stumbling and perilous falls, of wounds and illnesses and near-death situations. There must have been days, when their own families must have told them, ‘Enough!”
They must have looked at their family members and shook their heads, because they knew that the mountain peak they saw, their friends and family couldn’t see: Because theirs was a dream to reach the top! Yes, the key to success is to climb to the top!
Years ago, Lew Kraft, a cheese manufacturer, used to drive his horse Paddy from store to store selling his product, though without much success. One day despite the fact that his debts had been piling up and his cash register down, he said to his horse, “Today we’ll sell two hundred dollars worth!”
When evening came however and Kraft counted up the day’s earnings, the total came to $15.76! The worst day’s business he had ever done. “Lew,” his close friend told him, “you’re licked and you don’t know it.” But Lew was not licked. He plodded and pushed, he dreamt and worked hard and went on to build a hundred million dollar cheese business! You have all heard of Kraft Cheese!
One day in a letter to his employees, he wrote, “The greatest blessings of my life have been a result of overcoming failure!” Ah the joy of success! Whether it be the building of an empire or raising of family and children, or struggling against an illness: Go climb your Everest..!
—Email: bobsbanter@gmail.com
