The Summit Within begins with the author expressing how he felt as he stood at the summit of Everest. Despite the physical exhaustion, the serene view made him feel multiple emotions, the dominant of which was humility. He believes that a man who has been to the mountains is never the same before. He further talked about climbing the summit of the mind once he had climbed the summit of Everest. As soon as he got rid of his physical exhaustion, his mind started wondering as to why people climb mountains. Most people would simply say, “Because it is there” but the author had a more personal answer to the question. He had always been fascinated by the mountains and would get miserable on being away from them. He mentions how the obstacles in climbing a mountain are physical. A climb to a summit means endurance, persistence and will power. He talks about another question that is, “Why Everest?”, simply because it’s the highest and mightiest. No wonder how difficult the passage is upwards, the sense of fulfillment, excitement, joy and satisfaction while standing on the top of the summit is incomparable. The experience is other-worldly. He says that there is no perfect answer to the question as to why he climbed Everest. He compared it to why people breathe. He explains how fellow climbers help each other in fulfilling this conquest. Famous climbers have left records of help without which they would have given up. Standing on the summit makes you realise that the struggle was worthwhile. The view motivates you to rise above your current situations. It provides a means for communion with God. on the highest peak, he explains how you bow down and make your submission to the God you worship. The group had left pictures and relics of the Gods they believed in. He then continues talking about the other summit, the summit within which is harder to climb. But any climb, regardless of physical or spiritual, holds the capacity to change you completely. He expresses that having successfully climbed the Everest has given him the strength to face life’s problems and that climbing a summit, internal or that of a mountain, is a worthwhile experience.
0 Comments