This mountain

Recently, I shared Marc Smith's great poem Pull the Next One Up."

But it's quite a long poem and maybe you didn't read all the way to the end.

So I'll share the most important stanze, the one that helped propel me a few miles two weeks ago when I ran (what now seems like) an easy 15 miles.

When you ask how high is this mountain
With a compulsion to know
Where you stand in relationship to other peaks,
Look down to wherefrom you came up
And see the rope that's tied to your waist
Tied to the next man's waist,
Tied to the next woman's waist,
Tied to the first man's waist,
To first woman's waist
... and pull the rope!