Mountain vs molehill

I was told recently that I make a mountain out of a molehill.  That got me to thinking....one man's trash is another man's treasure, so the saying goes.  What one considers a molehill may very well be a mountain to someone else.

I have tried on many occasions to water ski.  To no avail.  My body just refuses to get up on those two pieces of fiberglass and balance itself across the water.  Then there's my husband.  Give him a ski and there he goes!  Ski away honey!  Ski away! (Well, that was 'back in the day'....let's see what his body does NOW. ;) ).  For him, it's a molehill. Wham, bam and done.  For me, I'm still trying to climb that mountain. 

I was just reading a book last night.  One of the characters is answering her phone and all the caller can hear in the background is a fire alarm and lots of noise.  He asks her what's going on.  A moment later it's silent.  He yells, "Are you still there?  Is everything ok?"  She calmly says, "Yes, everything is fine."  He asks her what happened and why it's suddenly so quiet.  She explains, "I was baking bread and burned it AGAIN. The noise stopped because I went outside to get away from it."

Mt. Egmont, New Zealand - photo by Michael A. Stecker

Obviously baking bread is a MOUNTAIN for that character.  It would be a molehill for me.  I mean really, just follow the directions, put it in the oven and wham - 30 mins or so later you've got yourself some homemade bread.  Also, notice how she stepped away from her "mountain" for a moment?  She was going to go back in and face it and maybe even some day she would CLIMB that mountain by baking her first loaf of bread without the fire alarm going off.

Your perspective of a mountain vs a molehill may be COMPLETELY different to someone else. For instance, I enjoy running.  I run 5k's and even 10k's on occasion.  I've done a few half marathons, too (13.1 miles). When I think of running a FULL marathon my knees start to hurt and I lose my nerve to sign up.  I have friends that run full marathons (26.2 miles) and think nothing of it.  A molehill for them, right?  Well, there is MY MOUNTAIN.  I haven't ruled it out completely so I'm still dancing around that 'mountain'.

I could go on listing the differences between mountains and molehills but I think you get my drift. Who am I to tell you that your mountain is really a molehill and you need to get over it?  

Kind of like flies.  You've heard the joke, "Waiter! What is this fly doing in my soup?!"  The waiter responds, "The back stroke."  Of course it's a joke but if you pick it apart....the waiter didn't seem to see the problem with a fly in the soup.  It's just a tiny little thing.  Get over it.  Flick it out of your bowl and move on.  To the customer, that fly ruined his meal (for the record....I'm with the customer on this one!).  A fly to an elephant or a horse? Swat it away with it's tail IF he even knows the fly is there.  To us?  One fly buzzing around our picnic can ruin the whole thing.  We will spend a lot of time to rid ourselves of that fly....waiving our arms around wildly, covering our food and protecting it like it's the Hope Diamond.  We obviously deal with flies different than an elephant or horse does.

"What are you saying with all of this, Debbie?"  I'm just reminding each of us to remember that one man's mountain is another man's molehill.  You may not mind the flies buzzing around you but it may bug the heck out of someone else.  We just need to be there to uplift and support each other on our climb....whether it's climbing that mountain or stepping over that molehill.  You never know how many molehills a person has faced or what mountains they have ALREADY climbed.  And when you think you're alone (and sometimes you just may very well be alone) always remember that there's probably someone out there climbing that same mountain, struggling along the way thinking they're alone.  We are NEVER really ALONE.  I truly dislike the saying, "When you think life is hard, remember, there's someone worse off than you."  Like THAT'S supposed to make ME feel BETTER?! Instead, I like to think, "When I'm feeling alone, I'm probably not.  There's probably someone out there climbing this mountain WITH me - probably on the other side....and we've got this TOGETHER.....because we are NEVER ALONE."

Love,

Debbie

P.S.  Maybe I'll finally climb that mountain by getting up on those water skis or actually signing up and running in a marathon.....some day.  Some day.