Relish the Valleys in Your Life

Hiking in Wyoming - my High School years

I’ve spent most of my life in the Rocky Mountains.  The beauty and awesome sight of being surrounded by majestic peaks is a source of great inspiration and peace for me.  I’ve never grown tired of looking up.  Yet very few people live on mountaintops.  In fact, most of us spend the majority of our lives down in the valley making only periodic trips above timberline to take in the view.  How true this is for our own personal journeys.  It seems we spend our lives yearning to be on top of the world yet find ourselves spending most of our time down in the valley. 

It’s the valleys in our lives though where we get most of our nourishment.  Without them our lives would be void of so much.  If you’ve ever spent time above timberline you will know that it’s often barren and you have to look closely to find life growing among the rocks, snow, and wind.  It’s the valley where nourishment is found and where we prepare for the periodic hikes to the top.  Valleys are often lush with food and shelter.  When we do journey to the higher places, we can regain our bearing and perspective and the accomplishment of reaching the peak is more satisfying.  Being on top is beautiful without a doubt providing solitude and a sense of awe, but I know of no one who lives year-round on the peaks of life (although I’m sure there are a few).  Our personal journeys to the top are often brief despite all the time and energy expended to get there.  But I find it’s the valley where I spend most of my time and I’ve grown to honor and love the peace and nourishment that comes from being down below.  I appreciate the peaks so much more and draw greater energy from the view while realizing I can’t stay forever.

The interesting thing about being on the top is that despite your plans, you’re often chased down sooner than you had hoped.  In the Rocky Mountains we have a saying that if you don’t like the weather then wait five minutes.  I’ve been chased off many a mountain by a sudden storm.  A ferocious wind emerges, temperatures drop, lightening flashes, and it can start to snow in just a few moments.  The same is true in our lives and in the organizations we work in.  Those victory moments are often short-lived as we’re chased down by a quick change of the weather.  Peaks aren’t meant to be forever experiences.   Peaks are there to inspire us onward on this journey of life.  It often seems that just when you settle in to enjoy the view below, you get chased away by a sudden storm.  Scrambling down off a peak in the midst of a storm is frightening until you reach the safety of the timber down below.

Leadership is often accompanied by that same feeling of being alone at the top looking down on the world around.  Leaders realize that climbing peaks requires great strength, persistence, and determination.  It also requires a fit body nourished and prepared for the arduous journey, and it's your responsibility to get everyone to the top and back down safely.  But when you’re in the midst of deep timber it’s often hard to see where you’re going.  It can sometimes be frustrating and anxious to be surrounded by trees not realizing exactly where you are.  Growing up in Wyoming, I can recall times (too numerous to count) where I was easily disoriented among the trees and rocks around me.  When that happened, my inclination was to climb high enough to see where I was at, chart a new path then back down again to continue my journey.  As a leader, when you and the team become lost or disoriented, it's your task to climb high enough to see where you're at and to adjust your trail to get everyone back on track.  That means that as a leader, you must always be in top shape!

I have learned as a sojourner to relish my time in the valleys of life.  To sit quietly by a bubbling stream, to smell the fresh pine around me, to hear the birds sing and watch the deer and elk graze.  I also enjoy climbing and the exhilaration of standing on the top.  It’s often been asked why people do things that require such great strength and energy to which they reply because it’s there.  I know as a leader that I must periodically make the effort to climb high enough to view the landscape around so I can chart the next phase of the journey for the team and myself.  And when you have the privilege of leading a group to the top, it’s an amazing feeling.  Just keep in mind you can’t stay there for long.  Learn to enjoy the lowlands in your life.  Draw strength, peace, and nourishment from them so you're ready to climb when the opportunity arises.

Duane Grove is founder of Connect2Action, a strategy execution specialist at the intersection of employee engagement and executive leadership, igniting innovation as a lever to accelerate your growth.  Follow Duane on Twitter @connect2action.