Keep Climbing

Lately, I’ve been doing a few handy projects at work – you know, changing lightbulbs, organizing things, hanging decorations. Simple stuff.

But this week, the task on my list was to hang a 4×6′ banner high up on a concrete wall.

Not as simple, but certainly doable.

Yesterday, I got out the drills, measuring tapes, and giant, extendable ladder, and went to work measuring and making a plan. Well, I must have looked at least a little overwhelmed, because my friend Jess came over to help me. As Jess is the best ladder manager this side of the Mississippi, I gladly accepted her assistance.

We had a good time with the project, tackled a few obstacles, only had to fix something once, and we were down to the final screw out of six. I was up on the ladder, reaching up with the drill, trying awkwardly to reach the final screw.

Jess chose this moment to wisely point out that I was only halfway up the ladder and it would be easier if I went up a few steps.

“Huh,” I said. I took two steps up. “Well, look at that. I guess sometimes I just forget to keep climbing.”

And I can’t even take credit for thinking about it beyond that, because I was going to move on when Jess said, “There’s a whole podcast topic for you!”

I paused, wiggled my eyebrows excitedly, said, “Or a blog post!” and pointed the drill at the air, squeezed the trigger, and laughed maniacally.

In fairness, I hadn’t eaten lunch yet, and I can get a bit dramatic when I’m hungry – both in a good way and a bad way.

So here’s the thought for today: sometimes I forget to keep climbing.

I look around, see where I am, and say, “Oh look. Still here. I guess we’ll do this the hard way.”

When in reality, I could take two steps up (which is not always easy) and make life much simpler.

What do you think? Do you ever forget to keep climbing? And if so, what usually reminds you?