Enjoy The View

The first time I drove up one of San Francisco’s vertiginous hills, I was pretty sure my car wasn’t going to make it.  I still remember the street we were driving up when my son, then nearly two, said to me “I no yike dis hill.”  “Me neither,” I replied.  It was terrifying.  Though my car was relatively new, I had never seen it scale a slope like this, and I had no idea whether it would be able to.  

Driving down that same street in the opposite direction, however, always inspired me.  As you descend down this massive hill, the view is just stunning.  You see the water of the San Francisco Bay, Marin County’s hills across the way, and the street down below (the same street you’re on, but at the bottom of the hill, it’s flat).  

Almost every time I drive down this street I take a picture because it was a sight I never saw living anywhere else– this steep drop with a stunning view of the water while you’re still in the city.  There’s something so beautiful and awe-inspiring about it.  

Now when I scale that hill going up, I know my car will make it.  But I always remember the fear my kids and I felt the first time we drove up it.  We were pretty sure it couldn’t be done (until we did it).

This is so much like each new challenge we meet in life.  The first time we’re faced with something new, our instinct might be to think “I’ll never be able to do this.”  But then — step by step — we do.  And then the view on the way back down that seemingly insurmountable hill is a wonder.  We did it!  It can be done!  And look how pretty that same hill is on the way down!

May this be a reminder to us all (just as much me as anyone)– it often feels impossible before we take on a new challenge.  But every other challenge we’ve faced felt the same.  And then we did it!  And the next time we try it, it’s easier.  We know it can be done.  And this time, we can enjoy the view.