Of Climbing Mountains and Life Lessons

By: Lovella Naces

I used to label mountain climbing as a useless passion. I used to criticize my

classmate who was a member of a mountaineering club in my university. Nganung
musaka paman ka ug bukid, na munaug ra man gyapun ka? these were my exact
words back then. I never saw what was in it. It was futile for me then. I remember I
was in this doughnut shop as I watched him and his friends prepare their things for
their climb. I looked in disbelief, why spend so much time, effort and money to walk
up some large clusters of steep soil and then come down?
Years later, I am on top of Mount Pulag, the third highest peak of my country.
My ID labelled me as mountaineer I was there, basking on the most beautiful
sunrise I have ever seen in my entire existence. Already, I had spent time, effort
and money for this three day climb yet I cannot help but say to my old self, it was
worth everything. I sat on the grassland, the so-called playground of the gods.
People surrounding me were all smiling, grabbing every opportunity to capture each
second through their cameras, in the attempt to preserve the moment forever. I
could not blame them. We sat with bright faces as everyone was ecstatic and
waited for the sun to rise. Everything is beautiful. My words are now echoing back,
yes why do I climb?

There are three important life lessons I gained in this Mt. Pulag Climb: First, I
am blessed; Second, I am meant to survive and third, I am loved.

Looking at the people around me, I say I climb because it reminds me to

count my blessings. As we waited for the sunrise, I heard a person from another
group saying Ang ganda ng sunrise, thank you Lord! I then wondered, how many
times in our lives do we experience this same sun and simply appreciate it for being
there? We get so consumed with our daily lives, drowned in endless paper works,
obligations, that the simple blessing like this sun is less appreciated and more often
ignored. Sometimes with all the burdens in life, we get too focused on what we do
not have. We are struggling to get there that we forget the things we already
have. The words of this nameless mountaineer, struck me and from that moment,
the thousands of blessings I experienced came pouring down, swirling in my
memory, what blessings do I have each day? as I started to count my blessings,
my smile widened Indeed, I cannot fathom how blessed I am.

I am meant to survive. I remember that while I walking up this mountain, the

sun had set and it was dark. My view was limited to what my headlamp could reach.
The wind was so cold and I was alone. To keep myself warm, I had frequent stops.
Every now and then I needed to add another layer of clothing and put on gloves (I
already had three pairs on, plus another pair thicker than oven mitts but I was still
cold). As a result, the pack that I was with was out of sight and the pack next to me
was still very far. I could see the line of their bright headlamps from afar and by my
estimate, the next climber was around 20 minutes from me. I was carrying 12 kilos
on my back and after a few hours of carrying the weight, I was already feeling the
pain. I sat down. I could not hear the voices of my companions anymore. All I heard
were the howling of the cold wind and my heavy breathing. I was alone. I was
shivering. My trail foods were scattered on the ground because my hands couldnt
keep still. I am cold, I kept telling myself. But the weird thing was that, every time I
look up and see all these grasslands softly graced by the moonlight, it was
breathtakingly beautiful that my pain became literally non-existent. It was like a
warm hug from a friend to assure me that things are alright. For a moment, I turned
my headlamp off and simply savoured everything. Alone with my thoughts and the
moon was up there, it reminded me of the limitless endurance of a determined
heart. I am meant to survive.

At four am, the following morning, we left our camp and started walking up
the Mount Pulag peak. I was already near the top when I saw lines of climbers far
below. They were making their way through the grasslands to get to where I was
standing. They looked like ants walking through this grand work of art, we call
nature. And it was at this moment when I realized, I am just an insignificant spec of
human being. With all my delusions of grandeur, my selfish efforts to impose my
importance, I realized I am nothing. I am nothing to this universe because it was,
and it will remain forever beautiful with or without me. I can simply blend with those
irrelevant particles of this vast glorious land and be forgotten. Yet paradoxically, it
was at this moment of realizing my own insignificance, that I felt I was immensely
loved. Seeing everything, the moon, the sun rising, the horizon, the sea of clouds,
the random flowers along my path, the happy peopleit got me thinking, how was
it possible, that I was allowed to exist in this kind of universe? Why do I see a
perfectly designed world filled with endless beauty and blessing for an undeserving
creature like me to live in? How can the simple view of grass and moon make me
forget all the pain I had? Upon this realization, I became speechless. Through this
climb I had a simple glimpse of the love that the Almighty has for me, and words of
gratitude are never enough for all this wonder. I was humbled. Insignificant as I am,
I am still loved infinitely.

I will definitely climb again. In fact, I will definitely climb until I can do no
more. Because each time I go home, I bring with me a fresh perspective. In this
great adventure we call life, we can choose whether to stop because of all the pain
we feel or continue walking despite the pain, simply because there is so much to
live for. Burdened by problems, we can always count our blessings and remember
that though we are alone carrying these troubles, we are never abandoned. All
unhappiness can melt away because despite the coldness of life, there is still so

much to be thankful for and that alone, is like a warm hug from a Friend assuring us
that things are alright, a reminder that we are so loved. ^_^