Climbing the mountain of life
8 April 2018 By Abiodun Giwa
The purpose of human pursuits as spelled out in Abraham Malow's 'Hierarchy of Needs'.
|
Human life and the struggle for survival or aspiration for breakthroughs, is like the climbing of a physical mountain. The difference between the climbing of the physical mountain and the mountain of life is that all human beings climb the mountain of life endlessly.
The climbing of the mountain of life is endless, because human aspiration and the urge to make a difference only terminate with the demise of human life. Miley Cyrus captures the essence of this aspect of human aspiration in her song, "There will always be another mountain" - a line in the title called The Climb.
No one needs to seek to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in East Africa or Everest in Asia before climbing the mountain of life. The mountain of life is part of human's birth, marriage and death, being the three unavoidable aspects of human life. After birth, the struggle to climb the mountain begins with the beginning of education.
No child is expected to fail an examination to be able to move from one class to another. Before the completion of the elementary school, the urge to climb the mountain into a high school begins, and this is followed by the desire to go to college from the high school. Not all children are lucky to ascend through this phases of life. Many children fall behind, depending on the social system and nationality.
Although, there are some children are unfortunately lacking the brain for school work, but whether one lacks the brain or not, the mountain of life is always there to be climbed, since adulthood requires income and livelihood and the desire to become notable in the society. There have been cases of men and women without modern education, who have thrived and notable in their callings. There are millionaires and billionaires, who have dropped out of school and have successfully pursued their passions.
No one dies and gets buried on the mountain of life, unlike the physical mountain. There is no surface to die on the mountain of life. People die everyday climbing the mountain of life; with thoughts about what next to do to push ahead in life and how to make more money in the frontier of human economic life. There is a time to slow down and a time to run like a hare. A time to evaluate whether the journey is going the direction one wants or whether there is a need to change tactics.
After school or at a particular age, the man and the woman want to settle down to begin a conjugal life. After the beginning of conjugal life, children begin to arrive and along with achievements to show to the world. The aspiration pursuits continue as old age captures up with the father and mother. Some are lucky to have established themselves big at this time, having all the resources to venture into many other ventures, while others still struggle to get by.
Whether one has established oneself or one is still struggling to get by, the climbing of the mountain of life continues and it does not end until the end of life, and passes to offspring as inheritance and a natural right that no one contends with anyone, unlike the way people war over materials.
The mountain of life is as timeless as Miley's song. And people do all sorts of almost impossible and unspeakable acts to get to the top of the mountain and to remain there. Betrayal. Licking other's asses or becoming slaves to others. Killing others or making life extremely terrible for others.
The rich and the wealthy reserve their places on the mountain for their children. Some children have been fortunate to maintain their parents' positions on the mountain and others squander the positions, for others less privileged to struggle to take over. Whether you are a news reporter, a member of the House of Commons or House of Representatives in countries in Africa, Asian and American countries, singers and truck pushers or car wash hands, we are all involved in the climb.
Whether we like it or not, humans always have this invisible mountain that only exists in their consciousness to climb, for as long as they are alive.
The climbing of the mountain of life is endless, because human aspiration and the urge to make a difference only terminate with the demise of human life. Miley Cyrus captures the essence of this aspect of human aspiration in her song, "There will always be another mountain" - a line in the title called The Climb.
No one needs to seek to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in East Africa or Everest in Asia before climbing the mountain of life. The mountain of life is part of human's birth, marriage and death, being the three unavoidable aspects of human life. After birth, the struggle to climb the mountain begins with the beginning of education.
No child is expected to fail an examination to be able to move from one class to another. Before the completion of the elementary school, the urge to climb the mountain into a high school begins, and this is followed by the desire to go to college from the high school. Not all children are lucky to ascend through this phases of life. Many children fall behind, depending on the social system and nationality.
Although, there are some children are unfortunately lacking the brain for school work, but whether one lacks the brain or not, the mountain of life is always there to be climbed, since adulthood requires income and livelihood and the desire to become notable in the society. There have been cases of men and women without modern education, who have thrived and notable in their callings. There are millionaires and billionaires, who have dropped out of school and have successfully pursued their passions.
No one dies and gets buried on the mountain of life, unlike the physical mountain. There is no surface to die on the mountain of life. People die everyday climbing the mountain of life; with thoughts about what next to do to push ahead in life and how to make more money in the frontier of human economic life. There is a time to slow down and a time to run like a hare. A time to evaluate whether the journey is going the direction one wants or whether there is a need to change tactics.
After school or at a particular age, the man and the woman want to settle down to begin a conjugal life. After the beginning of conjugal life, children begin to arrive and along with achievements to show to the world. The aspiration pursuits continue as old age captures up with the father and mother. Some are lucky to have established themselves big at this time, having all the resources to venture into many other ventures, while others still struggle to get by.
Whether one has established oneself or one is still struggling to get by, the climbing of the mountain of life continues and it does not end until the end of life, and passes to offspring as inheritance and a natural right that no one contends with anyone, unlike the way people war over materials.
The mountain of life is as timeless as Miley's song. And people do all sorts of almost impossible and unspeakable acts to get to the top of the mountain and to remain there. Betrayal. Licking other's asses or becoming slaves to others. Killing others or making life extremely terrible for others.
The rich and the wealthy reserve their places on the mountain for their children. Some children have been fortunate to maintain their parents' positions on the mountain and others squander the positions, for others less privileged to struggle to take over. Whether you are a news reporter, a member of the House of Commons or House of Representatives in countries in Africa, Asian and American countries, singers and truck pushers or car wash hands, we are all involved in the climb.
Whether we like it or not, humans always have this invisible mountain that only exists in their consciousness to climb, for as long as they are alive.
Widget is loading comments...
