Mike - 42
24 hours.
There is never enough time in the day to convince you that at the lowest moment of your life, no matter the situation, detail, or circumstance, I was right there with you, reaching for help, for anything to lift me up and out from the depths. I'd fallen, succumbed to a darkness that no spirit should ever endure. Grab my hand. Let’s get the hell out of this place.
Here we are. Having lived, sensed, and experienced a pain and suffering so overwhelmingly real, it brought time to a standstill. It shares with us a never-ending glimpse into infinity. No end in sight was only its starting point. Where does one even begin to try to escape forever?
Day one. Impossibly hard. 24 hours passed, slightly moving forward. When looking back, I see as clear as day, the precise time and place where I was giving my already exhausted everything. Another swift 24 hours past that moment, I turned back to see my uneventful, hopeless, first stop from those initial and terrifying first steps towards the unknown. This time I see something slightly different. Distance.
24 hours. It comes and goes quicker than you can imagine. When you find yourself stopping, every time the clock turns over, to look back and see how far you've come in such a short period of manageable time. I stand here today, three hundred seventy-one 24 hours ago past that initial action, that initial moment I took my first step forward.
What’s been done in that short time? It’s hard for me to make sense of it. I don't try to think about it too much because I'm still on this journey. I must make the most of what little time I have over the next 24 hours.
In elevation climbed, I am currently about to reach the summit of Mount Everest from sea level, both up and down, for the twenty-ninth time, consecutively. To give you an idea of what that means, I am roughly at the halfway mark of reaching the International Space Station, had I been climbing up a stairwell, this entire time.
The sheer number of 24 hours that have passed, that I've been able to turn back and forth on, has completely obscured the place, time, and feelings experienced, lived, and imagined from where this simple journey began. Every 24 hours I look back and see a person that is only moving forward towards their potential.
What you can accomplish in 24 hours is limitless. So, I ask you, where and who do you want to be 24 hours from now?
Start, stop, look back, and start again. 24 hours, nothing more, nothing less. Who do you want to be and what direction are you headed?
Go.
Now.
*** Editor’s Note ***
At the time of this publication, Mike has ascended the Stawamus Chief Mountain, in Squamish, British Columbia, 371 days consecutively! This equates to summiting Mount Everest 29 times or climbing a staircase with more than 77,000 floors. Mike began this endeavour to raise awareness around mental health issues. His initial goal was 365 days straight. He has decided to keep climbing, and has set a new goal of 1111 consecutive days. This will have him climbing approximately 420kms, or as he puts it, “next stop is the International Space Station”. Mike has shifted his focus from mental health awareness to mental health solutions.
Music - Mike’s music choices during our photo session included, Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Thin Lizzy, Post Malone, and The Rolling Stones.
