The Road to K2, Lesson 6

For the final installment of lessons I’m keeping top of mind heading into K2, let’s talk about change.

Lesson 6

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Change is the only constant.  

Maybe it was because Mt. Everest was such a long expedition that this lesson stuck out for me. All I know is, EVERY day, the only thing I could count on was that change was going to happen. We would put together a plan, have a back-up plan, and contingency plans C and D, and still know with confidence that what was going to be would be no matter what our plans were.

Change can become exhausting at times. We would be told a helicopter was coming so hurry and get ready. I would hurry and get ready as fast as I could only to wait and wait and wait to then be told that the weather got too bad to fly so they would try again tomorrow. The first time this happened I was mad and disappointed. Call it exposure therapy or what you will, but after it happened just a few times I learned to let go. I hurried to get ready, but was equally prepared for progress not actually happening, and became more accepting of what was in that particular moment.

The weather also did this to us on the mountain many times. We would have plans to go up the mountain and the weather would simply have other plans. We would be cold climbing at times, and then the clouds would part and we would be managing body heat. Finally, I stopped trying to predict the weather and just came prepared for all weather knowing there was a good chance I would get to experience all of it on any given day. 

As I bring that lesson home, I’m able to be much more OK with change on a daily basis with whatever life throws at me. I went to Everest to summit the tallest mountain on Earth and picked up some unexpected life gems along the way; funny how that works.

Embracing change, maybe even learning to thrive in its constant presence, was a true gift from my time on Everest. Allowing things to be “different” instead of “wrong” has allowed me to flow through life a lot more without the ups and downs of the unexpected. Life is a journey and within that journey so many lessons are there for the taking if I can just let go of what I can’t control. It leaves me open to so many possibilities of what else is out there for me.