Falling Into My Wheelhouse

A Casual Coincidence

I was scrolling through Facebook Reels when I came upon an interview with Daniel Priestly that I feel compelled to share.

He tells a story about his trip to Bali and how, when he sees a mountain on the horizon, he decides he wants to climb it. So, he reserves his spot in the group, and the bus comes to pick him up at midnight. They arrive at the base of the mountain at 1:00 in the morning and begin to climb.

Using only a small headlamp on a headband for light, he scratched and clawed his way up the unfamiliar territory, wondering why they were doing the climb in the wee hours of the morning. Five hours later, they reach the summit, just as the sun starts peeking over the horizon. Suddenly, he understands why they’d started the climb in the middle of the night! The view is breathtaking as the sun illuminates more and more of the surrounding area. He can soon see the entire island awash in morning light to one side and the sparkling sea on the other. The only thing he can’t see is the mountain he’s currently standing on—he’s too close.

The air is crisp and thin, so his body forces him to inhale more deeply to provide him enough oxygen. It’s wonderous, so clean, he can almost smell the lack of pollutants that are carried through the air at sea level. The vista is unlike anything else he has ever experienced. Delighted that he’d chosen to take the climb, he sees a different mountain off in the distance.

So, he goes to the guide and asks what that mountain is called, asks how long it would take to get there, how much it would cost to climb it, and could he book that climb with this same guide.

The man smiled and put his arm around Daniel’s shoulders. “You need to appreciate the mountain you’re standing on right now,” the guide tells him.

And that’s the thing, isn’t it? In today’s society, people miss the mountain of value they’re standing on, fail to appreciate the beauty that surrounds them as they seek the next mountain, distracted by its appearance on the horizon. Every person, be it from their personal history and unique experience, the friends they have, or their anecdotes about what they’ve learned, has a mountain of value to offer, but they’re too close to that mountain of value, they can’t see it! So please, see the mountain of value you’re already standing on and stop looking off into the distance to believe that there is somehow better.

It's a small shift, but a terribly important one, encompassing in its exercise, the ability to see the Same Vista through Different Eyes.

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