That one time I accidentally climbed a mountain

Last week marked the five-year anniversary of that time I accidentally climbed a mountain. 

How does one accidentally do something so physically taxing it’s still the hardest thing you’ve ever done, even more than giving birth? 

Well, my spouse and I had gone on vacation to Scottsdale, AZ, where it was pleasantly warm in January. We’d gone to the gym and were feeling extra healthy. We wanted some fresh air. We decided to take a nature walk on this trail we’d heard everyone talking about, the Cholla Trail, on Camelback Mountain. So, with about 2 ounces of water and gym shoes, we set out on this nature walk, bypassing the double-black-diamond “extremely difficult” sign and the park ranger who said we’d have to use our hands and feet at about the halfway mark. Ha, we scoffed, it’s just a nature walk. 

It started out as the pleasant walk we were looking for, then, as promised, at the halfway mark, we had to actually climb. We planted our feet as best we could, driving our sneakers into the dirt. We dug our fingers into the rock, pulling ourselves up with biceps that were already burning from our workouts. We rationed our water by taking the teeniest, tiniest sips. 

Turning around never crossed our minds—we are not quitters. 

When we got to the summit, my spouse said, “I feel like we should pray,” and instead of bowing my head, I laughed, lightheaded, dehydrated, and giddy. It was the hardest thing I’d ever done, and I had done it. 

This was one of the peak experiences of my life because it exuded so much of what is important to me: creating joy in challenges (even ones I manage to create myself), having faith in my partnership, and freedom. 

I bring these values with me every day to my work, asking myself: How can I create joy in the fund formation process, which everyone knows is difficult? How can I show faith in my clients, that they’ve got this? How do we do this in a way that is authentic to them, so they don’t feel that they have to conform to others’ expectations, but feel free to be themselves?