Others of us are at the top, standing up there drinking in the view of a lifetime! We are just so happy up there. We can see for miles and miles and miles. And we are looking down and yelling at the others below us "Come on, you can do it!"
Others of us are half way, some where in between the top and the bottom. We are clinging, struggling, fighting, slipping and experiencing all the reality of this. We are the ones who feel the guilt when we slip and we are the ones who feel the pride of taking one more step as each day comes and goes. We are the ones who are very very vunerable and very very unstable. Some of us are sitting here, postponing our own progress because we want to just hand up people. We want to just hold on tight and offer that foothold at that hangover point that is the most difficult. We will eventually move on when another strong one who is willing to wait comes along to take our place.
There are those here who are in such incredible pain that they want to just let go and slip back down and not fight the fight any more. Let them go. Just duck when they slip by, or if you feel like it - reach out and grab them and pull them tight. There doesn't seem to be any rules here. We are all just doing what we can, how we can, the best we can, to get to the top.
I never ever wanted to start this climb. I always walked away from it before. 30 years I've watched this mountain out my window and closed the drapes and said "not today." And then, one day I walked out the door and started the climb. Ya know, there just comes a day when you're ready. :) Keep the Quit if you're on this mountain and if you're just standing there looking at it, your time is coming. :) :) :) :)
In 1952, Edmund Hillary attempted to climb Mt. Everest, the highest mountain then known to mankind, 29,000 feet straight up. A few weeks after his failed attempt he was asked to address a group in England.
Hillary walked to the edge of the stage and made a fist and pointed to a picture of the mountain. He said in a loud voice...
"Mount Everest, you beat me the first time, but I'll beat you the next time because you've grown all you're going to grow, but I'm still growing!"
On May 29 only one year later, Edmund Hillary suceeded in becoming the first man to climb Mount Everest.
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Don't give up, nomatter where you are today, nomatter what you are facing. The only way to get past it and succeed is to never give up. And don't forget, you are still growing and still learning and you have brain and a heart and a spirit. This addiction is small compared to that!