At the beginning of the year, my family plays a game called Vertellis which in Dutch means “tell us more”. During the game, you are prompted to reflect and share your life experiences from the previous year and to explore what you look forward to in the year ahead. It was during one of these games I announced I wanted to climb my first mountain.

Little did I know, but this proclamation set in motion a chain of events that would have me training for and standing on Mt. Everest in little over a year. No, I didn’t summit the world’s largest mountain, but I did stand at its base after 2 weeks of trekking through the Himalayas.  

Everyday, our lead Sherpa, Lhakpa, would explain the trek we would be on that day and reminded us that “slow is smooth and smooth is fast”.  These words encouraged us to take each step required that day deliberately to avoid injury or falling off the mountains. With this guidance and a lot of walking, we all made it to Base Camp safely.

The trek to Mt Everest Base Camp is about a hundred miles with about 50,000 feet of elevation change. You don’t tackle it in a day or two. It takes ten days to go up and six days to come down. Lhakpa’s advice was to keep us from rushing and to enjoy the journey. Everyday the views got better, our bodies got stronger, and we grew in our confidence.  

Lhakpa’s advice is good for life as well. Where are you rushing and not enjoying the journey of your life? Try slowing down a bit. Be deliberate with each step and the tempo of your gait. Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.