The Ease of Achievement

Well the ceramic teapot has been replaced with vietnamese iced tea, but the vibe is still the same- small steps to achieve a much bigger picture. I have been amazed the little things I have achieved that graduate on to bigger accomplishments and make the final challenges appear so much more attainable.

For example my climbing challenge-

Step One: When I first put this down in writing my friend Steve called me and invited me to go indoor rock climbing at burleigh before I left for Vietnam. I scrambled up those walls with joy and abandon and though little of the physical strain it takes to climb those walls. The hardest thing was letting go

Step Two: I arrived at the majestic temples of Angor Wat and Thom where I climbed my first "mountain"- the locals call Bayon, the temple mountain. It is only about 50m to the summit, but I found that my new found skills came in handy as the steps are shallow and steep. This was also the case at the terrace of the Leper King. I must admit although it might not seem that high I felt a great sense of accomplishment when I reached the top. And Mum did a fantastic job. She has a raging case of vertigo but sucked it up and made it to the top as well.

Step Three: In Battambang, to get to the Killing CAves, you need to climb Boat mountain. Admittantly, there are steps up the mountain but it is much, much higher and again when I reached the top, dripping in sweat from the Cambodian heat, the smile again was broad. I was yet another step closer to achieveing my mountain climbing challenge

Now I await the mountains in Sapa in Northern Vietnam. It will be trekking up the mountains but there are no predetermined steps. Soon, on to the next step where I will be on the side of a mountain, harnessed up and finding my footholds and telling you about the biggest smile ever!

This challenge in itself has shown that I need to be kinder to myself, take joy in the little accomplishments and that joy will propel me further and faster into the future that I create for myself, step by step