This week I spent several days in Phoenix, Arizona.
There are some cities that somehow keep coming back into my story. I will be able to tell you more soon about Phoenix, but for now lets leave it as there are some exciting things happening for EMG and for me.
Phoenix is a beautiful city. It’s different.
One of the things I love most is its big sky and its gorgeous mountains.
So, on Tuesday morning, I got up very early and decided to run up Echo Canyon, up Camelback Mountain.
It was a beautiful morning, and there were handfuls of people “hiking” the trail, some in a very touristic way, some in a slightly more engaged way.
I started the trail running. I wanted to see if I could run up the mountain. I felt strong, but quickly within the first mile realized that I was not going to be able to keep up the speed. The trail became steeper, and then there were areas where the trail became large boulders that you had to jump and scale, often using your hands and legs.
I realized it wasn’t going to be a simple “run” – some was up, some was down, some was clear, some was straight, some was windy, some was scary, some was exciting, some was really hard… but every step was a part of it… some allowing me more opportunity to look around and enjoy the view.
Ah… LIFE!
As I ran, walked, climbed… in my mind, I thought, “Phoenix…. Who would have ever known…?”
You see, I am 47 years old. 47 and 3 months to be exact.
Exactly HALF my life ago, I was 23 and 7 and a half months.
HALF my life ago would be between November and December 1990… the first year that I started with Procter and Gamble.
I spent most of my time in November of 1990 in PHOENIX, Arizona.
Back then, I knew Camelback mountain existed, but I never set foot on it.
I couldn’t help, as I climbed the mountain, reflect on the moment…
ECHO Canyon… you make a noise and it reflects back to you… IRONIC.
So much has transpired in these last 23 and a half years.
HALF my lifetime!
Today, I am
so much stronger,
so much wiser,
so much more conscious,
so very much more grateful,
so much more aware of where I am going,
so much clearer on why I exist,
so VERY MUCH HAPPIER…
I weigh significantly less and I make significantly more than I did in 1990…
This second half of my life has been so very, very good to me….
I couldn’t help but smile.
I never spoke to the concept of HARMONY when I was 23…
I found myself excited about life, but so unable to convert so many moments.
I remember spending endless days upon days in Phoenix.
I was making progress and working on a project, but there were so many lost moments spent killing time at the South Mountain Pointe Hotel and so many hours lost driving around in circles…
There wasn’t a single catapulting moment in the past 23 and a half years,
And if there was, it wasn’t a job opportunity, but probably more a revelation …
The moment I heard the quote,
“With everything you say and do, you either give life or you take life away.”
Or the moment I realized,
“We can only exist, act and impact the very moment that we are living… the past and the future ONLY exist in our minds.”
The ONLY path to success is to be able to hop from moment to moment, like boulder to boulder, step to step. There was nothing that I did over years or over decades…
My happiness comes from the never ending questions… from thinking deliberately at each step and taking some sort of action toward the destination I thought I wanted to create…
23 and a half years… of missteps, of failed attempts, of doubting moments, of self-doubt…
AND 23 years of continued learning, of constant revelation, of small wins, of smiles, of deeper breaths…
Today, I climb the mountain, one step at a time. I don’t look back so much and I don’t look forward so much. I try to enjoy the climb. I try to climb to get stronger. I try to remember to stop along the way and look up and enjoy the view.
Today, my actions directly impact the short and long term happiness and opportunity of 500 families and hopefully many more soon.
Today, at the top of the mountain, I smile at the thought of my family, my boys, my strength, my opportunity, my friends…
Today, at the top of the mountain, I feel the DEEPEST gratitude for my ability to climb, to step lively… to LIVE THIS MOMENT… and to show up in the next.
This second half of my life has been one of mixed terrain… I have learned so very much… I have always been heading to a specific destination…
And, I realize… my destination wasn’t so much…
To be President of a company…
To be father of three amazing boys…
To drive a certain car, or live in a certain place, or have a certain size house, or have a certain amount of money in the bank…
My destination the more I climb the mountain of my life… has been simply…
To get to the next moment…
More able to understand it…
More able to appreciate it…
More able to build upon it…
More able to feel it…
More able to own it…
More able to enjoy it…
And along the way amazing things have happened… Half of a lifetime to be exact…
I climb the mountain strong.
I climb the mountain proud.
I climb the mountain grateful.
And, I realize the climb goes on and on and on…
I look back and see the many winding turns, the steepness, the danger, the beauty… I have always been in a hurry. I have not often enough looked back along the way…
I look forward and
see the many winding turns – though they don’t seem so daunting any more…
see the steepness and the danger…
But, more than anything I see the BEAUTY…
And, more than ever,
I am in less of a rush
I am so very much more grateful for my ability to climb
I try to stop more often and look at the view, even if for a moment…
And, I realize I can get more mindful, more peaceful, more deliberate, more effective, more grateful…
And, it all starts with this very next moment…
Camelback is a beautiful mountain… but its all part of a greater climb.
Think back upon your journey and notice the progress…
And, bring yourself back to your moment and your unique and most beautiful climb…
Harmony begets harmony…
Boy – DOES IT EVER!!!
Climb STRONG!
Yours,
Nestor