Bear Grylls’ thought for this morning, ‘Plan for the Way Down’, starts: ‘Twice as many people die climbing down Everest than climbing up, but I have never met someone who has said, ‘I’m training to climb down Everest.’’
He talks about being ‘ascent focused’, describing how we look at achieving successes without considering what comes after…
In the nursery rhyme Jack and Jill plan their trip up the hill. Bucket’s fit for purpose, water’s in the well. A two person mission provides mutual help and support. The ascent goes well, the purpose is achieved as the bucket is filled.
The problem came with the descent. Jack fell. Jill fell. Water lost. Mission failed.
We’ve lived in our house for nearly forty years. We put stuff in our loft because we couldn’t or wouldn’t decide what to do with it. The ascent into the loft was fine…
Yesterday we brought stuff down. Rachel sorted through a huge pile of jigsaws. I have a box of folders to sort. The descent from the loft is more time consuming and problematic.
Yesterday I chatted to Nick and Doris. They’ve been married for many years. Nick’s dementia is deteriorating; Doris does a wonderful job caring for him. In the past Nick’s told me of adventures he’s had, interesting places he’s been, significant successes he’s achieved. His ascent in life was great. Doris is now lovingly managing his descent.
David Sullivan was in the news this week. Having lost friends to heart problems, David runs the Creating Lifesavers charity which raises awareness of CPR and installs defibrillators.
Recently David installed a defibrillator in the Himalayas, at an altitude of 20,000ft. Cecile is a young French climber. Her heart stopped. A young Dutchman saw the defibrillator and used it. Cecile’s now recovering in a Kathmandu hospital.
Musing on Bear, Doris and David… In ‘The Sound Of Music’ Maria sings, ‘Climb every mountain… till you find your dream’. Climbing literal, metaphorical mountains is good. Coming down safely is important too.
malcolmsmusings.org 
One of the guides I climbed most with always said, “Climbing is a round trip sport.” The down is so hard because you’re tired and often the snow is softer. There’s a rich analogy in that! Great post, Malcolm!
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It certainly made me think, Wynne. We so often talk about going up… a high building, in a plane, up a ladder, promotion at work, improvement at school… The emphasis is often on the ascent and ‘being up there’. The descent is rarely mentioned. Looking back, I thought about that particularly when I retired.
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This is wonderful. I hadn’t thought about it quite that way.
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It was an approach I hadn’t thought through before, Lori. Coming down well, and appreciating the descent is important.
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