Reaching the Top

Everybody wants to be a winner. What makes people different is what they want to win and how they go about winning it. Winning really covers every end of the spectrum. Some people play the lottery to win money. Others give to the poor to win a clean conscience or, if they are religious, to win the approval of a higher being. It may seem contradictory, but to some people winning means being selfless. In May 2009, I experienced winning by helping someone else reach the top of a mountain. This experience took a lot of hard work, but looking back, I realized how great the rewards are that come from helping people achieve goals that require a great amount of effort from everyone involved.

The first part of this journey taught me the simple reward of approaching a challenge with other people. The day we took the hike was perfect, not too hot and not too cold. Everyone in my immediate family was home because of my two brothers’ birthdays on April 29 and May 1. This was rare because my eldest brother lives in Harrisburg with my sister-in-law. Since we saw that the day was going to be so beautiful, we decided that we would take a hike. Despite having lived in that area for almost fifteen years, my family had never hiked this particular trail that led up to a flag pole on the crest of a nearby mountain. We had heard beforehand from some friends that it was one of the more strenuous trails, not so much because of its length but because of its steep incline. The six of us, my older and younger brothers, my two older sisters, and my sister-in-law, decided to hike it anyway. We drove to the parking lot that was about a hundred yards from the start of the trail. Before we even began to hike, we had to cross a very unstable, wooden bridge that crossed a creek between the small parking lot and the base of the mountain. On this particular day, we would be the only ones on the trail. When we got over to the base of the mountain, we saw that the trail did not look steep at all for quite a way up. In fact, it looked like it was going to be an easy walk through the forest. As we hiked, though, we found the trail to be deceiving. The farther we went, the steeper it got. The terrain became more and more rugged. We went from walking on moss and grass to dirt and rocks. It was no longer an easy walk; it was an uphill battle. Around this time is when we started having trouble. One of my sisters is, well, not exactly Bear Grylls and was rapidly becoming exhausted. In fact, the situation got to the point where she repeatedly told us to go on without her, and she would see us at the bottom. She should have known better; Rileys never leave anyone behind. With a bit of forceful encouragement, a few pushes, and a few pulls, we all carried on towards the summit together. It was, as opposed to an ordinary day, quite dramatic.

This part of the hike was hard work. It was frustrating for everyone and tested my patience. However, it turned out to be essential to our journey. In any area of life, in order to achieve victory, a person must have something to conquer. If a person wants to win the lottery, he or she has to beat the odds. If a person wants to do some good for the impoverished, he or she has to overcome greed. Something will always be standing in the way, and it does not necessarily have to be an enemy or something evil. That day on the side of the mountain, the thing that stood in our way was the side of the mountain. We no longer admired the beauty of the oak and maple trees. Instead, the trees loomed over us, and the sound of the wind became the sound of scornful laughter. The scent of spring flowers and fresh leaves was replaced by the overbearing aroma of the sweat that poured from each of our bodies. Each foot of ground was harder to cover than the last. Everything in nature that day was reduced to a battlefield. It is not like we were in conflict with the rocky trail per se; it was just a seemingly simple matter of getting to the top, and to do that we had to climb the trail. From this segment of our journey, I learned that things can get hard when you try to get what you want due to that opposing force. More importantly, I learned the benefits of both having people there to help and helping others.

The second part of our journey showed me the even greater reward of the joy that comes from seeing the fruits of hard labor. We continued to trek up the mountain side trail which had become more like a set of steep stairs made of rock and dirt. In order to get through this section of the mountain, we would have one person climb a stair and pull my sister up while someone else pushed from behind. Needless to say, she was not enjoying the hike during this time. Eventually, though, we came within sight of our goal, an American flag flying from a flag pole. One of the most relieving feelings came over the group. The ground began to flatten about ten yards away, the rocks disappeared, and as we walked the last few yards to the ending point, we knew what it meant. We won. We knew we could do anything together. Essentially, we just carried each other up the side of a mountain. I know at least I felt empowered, like I had just accomplished a seemingly impossible feat. We wrote our names in a book that was in a mail box next to the flagpole then sat down to rest for awhile, basking in the great triumph we had just experienced together.

Looking back, I am glad my sister had trouble getting up to the top. It meant that much more when we reached the summit together. I realized that the harder I work for something, the more gratifying the sensation will be when the victory is won, especially if the victory is for more than just me. It does so much more than give me a feeling of happiness, though; it acts as a source of joy. It is like the difference between winning the lottery and giving to the poor. Sure, at the moment a person wins the lottery he or she feels happy, but how long will that last. Money has a tendency to disappear, and the person will not be so happy anymore once the money is eventually gone. Not to mention all the drama that comes with large amounts of money. On the other hand, if a person gives to the poor, no one can take that away. The person may not even be happy about it at first, but he or she will eventually see the satisfaction it brings. Happiness is a feeling, and feelings change with the weather. A source of joy is something that can always be turned to in the face of distress. That is the ultimate reward I received from my family’s hike. I now have something that no one can take away, something that I can look to and say, “Look at the joy I received from working that hard. I beat the challenge I faced then, and I can beat the one I face now.”