MountainI asked a friend who climbs mountains if there was a term for a place on a mountain that looks like the peak of the mountain but isn’t. A place that once you reach, you realize the real summit still is up and ahead of you. He said, “Oh yea, it’s called a false summit. You can look it up on the internet.”

So I did. Here is what Wikipedia had on it.

“In mountaineering, a false peak or false summit is a peak that appears to be the pinnacle of the mountain but upon reaching, it turns out the summit is higher. False peaks can have significant effects on climber’s psychological state by inducing feelings of dashed hopes or even failure. The term false peak can also be applied to non-mountaineering activities where obstacles posing as the end goal produce the same psychological effects.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_peak

This was exactly the concept I was thinking about when it comes to midlife. I think that too often we think of midlife/midcareer as our life’s peak, the pinnacle of our achievements. For most of us, if that was the case I can see why we would have “feelings of dashed hopes or even failure.” Perhaps, this time in life is better thought of as a basecamp, to further elaborate on the mountaineering metaphor.

“The “Base Camp” of a mountain is an area used for staging an attempt at the summit.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountaineering

I am willing to bet that at no time in your life have you ever been more prepared to reach your real life’s summit, your dreams. The experiences and skills you have acquired over time will serve you well if you are willing to use them. Perhaps it’s time to attempt your life’s summit.

Life got very interesting when I decided I still had a summit to reach. What about you? I am interested to hear from others who decided their real life’s summit was still ahead of them and have decided to go climb it.

One Comment

  1. Thanks Jeff for the reminder that life is a journey … There are always new peaks to climb after a peak is conquered. Declaring the peak you wish to conquer is a great motivator and a critical step towards making a goal real. Are you ready to make a declaration?

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