We live in a world where we are constantly surrounded and being reminded by success stories. We watch, we hear, we emulate, but do we really know what success for ourselves really looks like? Is it solely about the winning? The prize? The accolades? I offer my opinion in one word for you to ponder...No. There are plenty of those who have won, grabbed the prize, received the praise, and where are they? Has the one with the most toys really won? They made it to the top, but how did they proceed afterwards. Quite often “winners” effulgence fade, and fade quick, unable to handle finally freeing the carrot from the end of the stick. Lotto winners, superstars, and one hit wonders, litter our landscape, displaying more characteristics of losers than that which we associate with successful winners. Once at the top, they fall.
What’s then is the point of achieving success, ascending to dizzying heights? Surely many have experienced it without subsequent misery. Let me relay this metaphorically using more special relativity, one displaying painful planning and execution, climbing a mountain, specifically the Matterhorn. At a height just short of 15000 ft and first ascended by Edward Whymper in 1865. The Matterhorn, aside from being one of the world's most iconic mountains is also a psychological condition. The Matterhorn Syndrome is attributed to those who fail once achieving success. Aptly named, a surprising half of all climbing fatalities (41.2% between 1951-2006) in mountain climbing are from the descent after conquering the climb. As a matter of fact 4 of Whymper’s crew died coming down after his successful climb. When we’re climbing we’re trying, but once we succeed we tend to let our guard down. Quite often we place too much emphasis on the climb towards our goals and neglect what to do afterward. And recoiled with all that potential ensuing overconfidence comes, and the inevitable; the fall. So, before you assume you are on solid ground, assess your surroundings and act soberly. To quote St. Paul, “let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.” 1Cor 10:12.
I would be remiss if I didn’t share a climb to the top I experienced, and the subsequent falling down upon success.
It was a few weeks before my graduation, I was filled with much of the same emotions of moving on and grabbing the world by the horns and showing what I was made of as most college graduates. But, I had something fresh in my toolkit, something that cannot be taught, only learned...a fresh failure, a deep wound. As our class hit restaurant row, the final stop in our culinary training, summer was bringing out the adventurist in all of us and we chose to pass out free time in between classes enjoying hiking the local mountains. One such day a few friends and myself found ourselves at the summit of one of the local hills after a grueling footrace to the top. We were always a bit competitive as you can imagine and our wagers usually entailed who did or did not pay for the evening's libations and or put in the monies needed to procure the meal to accompany them. And today was no different and as we sat at the summit discussing the night’s menu of sparkling wines, fiddleheads and crustaceans.
It soon became apparent that this was not going to be an inexpensive loss by any means.
So, when we began our race to the bottom, there was a lot on the line.
Needless to say, I was winning. I love winning. My years of distance running and downhill skiing morphed into a combination style somewhere between cross country and mogul jumping, and was paying off greater than my friends’ Tarzan emulations. With the end in sight I began to fantasize about the night’s feast. And that’s when it hit me….the ground! As my ankle caught some gravel, turned my foot upside down and threw me headlong to the ground, the sole of my shoe perfectly visible to me as my momentum was slowed by the gravel . Ouch. I didn’t plan for that.
Quite often we have a plan to succeed, but then what. Do you have a plan for all that built up kinetic energy upon reaching the pinnacle; what to do with all that potential energy? Or are you destined to let nature complete your hyperbolic journey. Too many times the ambulance is sent to the bottom of the mountain when an itinerary at the top would suffice. So when facing those mountains in life, be careful and plan your steps both up and down. Not that falling is bad, great lessons are learned on your face in the gravel, but in the moments following a victory it's unpleasantness is greatly amplified. Therefore, don’t let success go to your head. Don’t let up until you're safely done. Don’t just plan to climb the mountain, plan to make it back and tell people you did it. And if I may drop a quote here to conclude, “People don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan”. Well said John Beckley, well said.
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