Dolomite Blues

 As you prepare to climb a mountain, those who have climbed before warn you: don’t take too much with you. They’ve been there, after all, and they know.
Yet, you keep packing, thinking, I might need this or that… What if I need this?
Your backpack grows heavier, but you’re still not ready to let anything go. I might need it, you tell yourself.

At first, the climb doesn’t seem so bad. You walk and walk, climbing steadily. But as the mountain gets steeper, the weight feels unbearable. You’ve covered some distance, but there’s still a long way to go. You try to maintain your pace, but it’s too much—the weight is slowing you down.

Finally, you come to the realization you’ve been avoiding: you have to let go of some of it. It’s hard—really hard—because you’re attached to those things. But deep down, you know you can’t continue like this. So, reluctantly, you leave some things behind and keep hiking.

The mountain grows even steeper. But isn’t that what you wanted? To climb high, to aim big? After a while, you shed more weight, and with every step, you feel lighter. You keep climbing, and before long, you’re left with only the essentials—the things you truly need.

When you finally reach the top, you’re overwhelmed with happiness. You did it. You look back at the journey and feel a tinge of sadness for the things you left behind. You think about how fun it was to have them, and wonder if the climb would’ve been more enjoyable with them. But in truth, they wouldn’t have changed anything. You don’t need external things to find happiness or contentment.

Just as you need to travel light to climb a mountain, you need to travel light through life. Let go of what doesn’t serve you, no matter how attached you are to it. Holding onto unnecessary burdens only makes the journey harder—it makes you suffer.

To reach the top, to reach God, you must shed everything that weighs you down. There’s no purpose in carrying it. Those who have gone before you warned you, but some journeys you must take on your own to truly understand what you need to let go of.

Stop carrying those burdens.

And what a beautiful blessing it is to have a righteous companion walking the same path alongside you.