Lessons from Switzerland

Bonjour!

I am currently writing this post from Switzerland. I’m living in a small mountain village in the western part of the country. To describe where I’m staying as ‘picturesque’ would be totally inadequate; it’s simply too beautiful for words. Every day I get up and, like Meg Ryan in “French Kiss”, I’m tempted to say, “Beautiful, beautiful, wish you were here!”

On the other hand, the Alps are not puny little Florida hills or sand dunes; they are very BIG mountains! As the village sits pretty high up in the mountains and my apartment even higher, getting places isn’t easy. This leads me to my first Switzerland lesson.

What Goes DOWN Must Come UP.

Everyone in this village WALKS. You see them walking to and from work on roads that might make a mountain goat hesitate. And they walk with little effort, making it look deceptively easy to a crazy American tourist.

Guess what? It’s not.

One of the first things I decided to do was take the short cut down to the center of town. This path involves many, many steps. As you walk down, the incline becomes so steep it feels like you need a rope to keep from flying forward. But, I’d seen others walking this way and I figured if they could do it, so could I.

I took my time and made it down without too much bother. I did some shopping, explored the village, and then decided to go back to my apartment. I stood at the bottom of the path and made my first mistake.

I looked up.

Oh, my gosh, what seemed easy coming down, looked monstrous going up. I wasn’t sure I could make it back to the top, as the steps seemed endless!

I wish I could say the trip up was easier than I thought. It wasn’t. It was very, very hard. Months on a stair master couldn’t prepare me for this climb. Half way up, I seriously considered turning back and trying my luck at hitchhiking back to my apartment.

In the end, just plain old persistence kept me moving and perhaps a bit of vanity. I was NOT going to be that stupid tourist who climbed down the mountain and then couldn’t get back up. While I had to stop often and pretend to contemplate the beautiful views just to catch my breath and slow my heart, I managed to slowly climb up step by step.

When I finally reached the top, sweaty and out of breath, I was totally thrilled with myself. While it may not have been pretty or easy, I had done it! I climbed up those very steep mountain steps!

Isn’t this like life? There are times when we’re coasting along, feeling confident and satisfied and then BOOM something comes up. It may be a crisis or it may be a new challenge. Either way, it can seem just as overwhelming as my staircase seemed to me.

If this has ever happened to you, maybe what I learned from my climb in Switzerland can help you.

I learned that successfully getting through a challenge or crisis means you need to keep moving, even if you want to turn back or quit. I learned it’s important to set your own pace and that it’s okay to go slowly or take a break. I learned if I was patient and took each step one at a time, I would eventually reach my destination.

If you do these things, I believe you WILL also reach your destination. And when you do, I’m confident you will be as thrilled about what you accomplished as I was after climbing my mountain staircase.

Au revoir!

Tagged as: managing crisis, new challenges, overcoming obstacles, Switzerland