Inspirational story: Only a handful of people...

There was once a group of friends who met at college and ever since then they had a tradition to go mountain climbing at least once a year. After college, they all went their own way all across the world. But this tradition was their chance or “excuse”, however you take it, to keep in touch and share what was going on in their lives. In all the years they traveler all across the world they have never climbed the mountains in the Swiss Alps. So this year they decided to go to the Swiss Alps as they knew only a handful of people who have been there, and the ones who were only had great things to say about the Alps. So the group of friends decided to pick three sites they wanted to visit. The very first mountain they wanted to conquer was Mount Pilatus in the center of Switzerland. It was an easy climb or more appropriately to say a hike. This was their warm-up mountain 2128 meters high.

Next, they were ready to conquer Mount Eiger which is known as a pretty dangerous mountain for the less experienced climbers and is 3970 meters high. But our group of friends were well prepared for it and had experience with climbs of such difficulty. Even though just to be on the safe side they decided to take the South Ridge route which is one of the safest. Once they conquered Mount Eiger their next destination was one of the most known and beautiful mountains in Europe, Mount Matterhorn. The Matterhorn is 4478 meters high and can be viewed from countless viewpoints for the less experienced climbers, while for the experienced climbers who wanted a challenge the mountain offered a pyramid-shaped peak. As they reached the famous mountain spot they were surprised to see so many people climbing it.

After looking over all the possible routes our party of friends decided to start their climb on the last mountain of this year’s trip. As this was a very tough climb to the top they decided that they wouldn’t go to the top, as they were already tired from the previous climbs. So they decided to stop at the last possible spot that offered one of the most extraordinary views in the whole of Switzerland. Once they were there they made camp and would return the next day. While they were resting and talking with each other about their lives one of the friends named Mark was observing how a handful of people were making their way to the top. So he started thinking that if he came this far why not go to the top. He asked if any of his friends were willing to join him but no one was willing because it was too dangerous, and they were already having fun. They were satisfied with where they were. Mark on the other hand wanted to climb to the top but was experienced just enough to know not to go alone on such a dangerous climb. But luckily for him, there was a group of climbers that were just walking past their camp and were on their way to the top. So Mark saw an opportunity and quickly ran to them and asked them if he could join their group. They happily accepted him.

When they finally reached the top there were already some people there who welcomed Mark and the group with a round of applause. Mark was surprised about the final climb as it was not so difficult as he was told by so many people. Suddenly a man stepped next to Mark introduced himself and started a conversation. After a few moments, Mark shared with the man his thoughts about the difficulty of the climb and how he is surprised that there is only a handful of people here. Why aren’t there more people at the top, as it’s so beautiful and not at all that hard to climb? The veteran climber smiled and explained, “You see those people there”, and pointed his finger at the spot where Mark and his friends and many others had set their camps. “Most people in the crowd right there, are happy with what they find easy. They never think that they have the potential to achieve more,” continued the veteran climber. “Even people who are not happy there, don’t want to take any risk. Many of them do not show any courage and they remain part of the crowd their whole life. The worst part of it all is that they also keep complaining about the handful of people who have the courage to do something.” After hearing that Mark started asking himself how many times was he like that and made a promise to himself that he would never act like that again. From then on he was determined to always find the courage to finish what he would start.