It has been a few months since one of my friends successfully summitted Mount Everest and came back down in one piece.
When he returned home, it seemed to me that he had not quite registered the enormity of his feat in the eyes of commoners like us. In the number of interactions that I had with him later, I concluded that he had reached a point of irrelevance of success or failure in as far as his summit expedition was concerned.
And the reason for it was that he loved climbing mountains so much, that the sheer opportunity to make that attempt was enough.
Don’t get me wrong. Getting to the top was important, very important to him, in all aspects. There was a lot at stake, physically, emotionally, financially. Returning alive with no major damage was also very important. And he prepared and did everything he could to increase the chances of that happening.
But what I meant by irrelevance was that it didn’t matter so much that had he not really succeeded, it would have led him down a path of extreme disappointment. There was a point in the expedition when he had sustained an injury after which it did look like he might have to call it off.
Nor did he take too much credit for the fact that he succeeded. In fact, he often said that there were other members of his expedition team who were not as lucky. There was a hidden hand that got him back – it was not entirely his own doing.
Success and failure are undefined. They are measured only by others. Compared to what? is the perennial question that doesn’t have a single answer.
Even going to base camp is a big success compared to others who struggle climbing ten stairs in their apartment, and summitting Everest with a lot of strain is a failure compared to the Sherpas who do it over and over, year after year, for others.
It is futile to set any measures of success and failure. It is irrelevant to the person who loves what he is doing. He knows what is in his control and what is not and doesn’t fuss about it.
The sheer act of doing something that you love with full commitment itself gives you so much joy that, when you love something a lot, success or failure becomes irrelevant.
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