Life is a Mountain Range

Tears of sadness rolled down my face almost every time I clumsily, yet hastily, made my way down the wooden steps of my mother’s apartment, to my safe haven and my protector: my father. My life was in a suitcase. I toted around bags of clothes, books, sports trophies, and God knows what else, back and forth between my mom’s and my dad’s houses.
My parents got a divorce when I was five, however their relationship did not improve. According to the courts, tears in my eyes and angry voices in my ears were not an acceptable way to live. My life was forever altered the day they signed on the dotted line.

I used to wonder why I had to be the girl that lived two different lives in two different houses, with two completely different parents that hated each other. It took me years to realize that the hardships I faced and the problems I came up against actually enabled me to have a better outlook and understanding of life.

By the time I was twelve, seven years after the divorce, my parents’ bickering still had not ceased. After years of therapists, court orders, crying, and screaming, my mother still felt she needed to blame me for everything that went wrong in her life.

One day, my mom told me that since my dad and step-mom were getting ready to bring my new triplet siblings into the world, they would have no time for me. She said, “They simply will not love you anymore.” I instantly felt like a burden to my family.

My mom could have calmly and rationally come to me and explained how it made her feel that the courts put me in the sole custody of my father; but, instead, she crushed my heart by making me feel unloved and unwanted.

Over time, my mother’s hurtful words have enabled me to unlock the secrets of life. Life is like a mountain range. The problems we face can be compared to both the soft slopes and rigorous mountains that cover the earth. The ultimate goal in life is to reach the top and conquer all problems that arise. Petrarch, an Italian scholar, poet, and Renaissance humanist wrote, “In the end, after long wanderings, thou must perforce either climb the steeper path, under the burden of tasks foolishly deferred, to its blessed culmination, or lie down in the valley of sins.” Like Petrarch, I too have realized that life is full of problems, and the only way to succeed is to climb to the top of the mountain. Life is a series of slopes and valleys, no matter the route you take, the only way to the top is to go up.

My parents’ divorce is only one small mountain in the scope of life. I now use my experiences and hardships as a building block to climb the mountains that life throws at me. At times I felt life could not get any worse, but I learned that rough paths are the only ones that lead to success. The divorce and my mother’s scorn have allowed me to see life’s hardships in a new perspective, as a stepping-stone.

The divorce is only one of many problems I have had and will face in my lifetime, but at the top of the highest mountain is success. My idea of success is waking up in the morning and being excited to start a new day. If I have a roof over my head, food to eat, a loving family, and an exciting career, I know that I have reached the top of that huge mountain. At the top, there is an incredible view that puts everything in perspective, both times of triumph and defeat.