Ain't No Mountain High Enough - Day 214
G Baby,
Your father had a tradition to uphold today. For the past 3 years, I have climbed to the summit of Stone Mountain to “Start the year off right”. I've endured freezing cold and wind, extreme fog, and even rain in my previous ascents, the latter makes the climb a bit dangerous. But today there is no bad weather insight, just a pleasant breeze. So, you made the climb with me! Also accompanying us was your mother, Lala, London, and Kamani.
The leader of the pack - London Bridge
Our merry gang parked and began our ascent around 2pm. Despite a few breaks, we made it to the summit in about 30 minutes. Everyone was upright and accounted for. No woman or child left behind. There’s a great sense of accomplishment associated with completing a task like this. You shouldn’t feel that yet as you were strapped to my chest. But you prove more to yourself than anyone else that you can do it, whatever that IT may be at the time. The thing is that you can’t just jump into activities like this without proper preparation.
Not everyone on the mountain today made it to the peak and back down without incident. There was a middle age gent that took a spill at the peak and broke his ankle. He was all the way at the top mountain, down an ankle, with only a nice camera and a dead phone to keep him warm. We assisted in getting him the help the needed; emergency services drove to the top and took him down the mountain safely. But if I can be frank, my man was in that situation because he failed to properly prepare.
Firstly, he was wearing dress sneakers that I don't imagine had very good traction. He was without a reliable companion. A partner is invaluable in so many activities, hiking included. Mr. Ankle choose to climb alone. That’s not a deal breaker though. I personally climb by myself all the time. But he also choose to climb without a charged means of communication. He didn't do the necessary preparation. There is a saying that goes Failure to prepare is preparing to fail. That's true for every activity under the Son. If you have an opportunity to prepare for something (I mean ANYTHING) before its actual undertaking, take advantage!!
The best example in our life is when we prepared for you. Did we know everything about child rearing? Absolutely not. What we did know was that anything we could prepare for in advance of your arrival, we needed to do. So we began reading What To Expect When You’re Expecting, we gave away our guest room furniture and bought a crib. We notified our future support system well in advance. Your mother started routine walks and exercise balling. We even took a trip because we knew travelling would be on hold for a little bit. We call it a babymoon. There were certainly aspects that would remain unknown until you arrived, but getting ready for what we could played an enormous role in the life you live, even today.
In closing, always, always, always prepare. It’s something I wish I would have grasped early in life. There will be moments when the opportunity to prepare does not present itself, but those occasions are few and far in between. If there are known factors or obstacles, there is no excuse not to be equipped to handle them. Study for test, practice desired skills, stretch before exercising, and just generally acquire knowledge. I promise you will thank me in the long run. Remember, always forward until you reach the peak. Descend, find a new mountain, then repeat. But also prepare in between those steps.
Daddy loves you. Go Touch the Sky.
