The Descent

It’s time again to inhale. And exhale. To bring your attention to your breath. To bring your breath deep into your body. Inhale. Exhale. Welcome to a Hit of Hope, and this one is definitely salty. Sometimes, life plops a mountain down in front of you.

Please note: This track may include some explicit language

Transcript

It's time again to inhale and exhale to bring your attention to your breath,

To bring your breath deep into your body.

Inhale,

Exhale.

Welcome to a hit of hope,

And this one is definitely salty.

Sometimes life plops a mountain down in front of you.

You were trucking along just fine,

Or maybe mostly fine,

And then wham,

Bam,

Thank you ma'am,

Mountain.

And it's easy to think that climbing that goddamn mountain is the hardest part.

The effort it takes,

The feeling that you have not one lick of air left in your lungs.

And it might feel as if you have made it one inch in a day.

One fucking inch.

And yes,

It is hard.

But I was just climbing a mountain recently,

And it occurred to me the descent can be just as bad.

Or maybe I should say it can be tricky.

One false step and you could go tumbling down the slick face of the mountain.

What's to stop you from crashing with a thud?

What's to stop you from breaking into pieces as you fall?

Inhale,

Exhale.

When climbing a mountain,

It seems easier to focus on the right here and right now.

Where is the very next handhold?

Where can I right now put my foot?

And so you climb inch by fucking inch.

But when you reach the top,

Well,

First of all,

There are all those damn edges.

God,

I hate edges.

Okay,

Sorry.

Focus.

Fine,

You made it to the top.

And maybe you get a glorious view.

Look at me.

Look what I did.

Aren't I awesome?

Ah,

Hell.

Unless you want to live on that mountain top,

Where there is probably no food or water,

Now you have to get back down.

And where in the hell did the footholds go?

And there's shale.

And let's not forget gravity.

When you have survived,

When you have climbed the mountain,

What happens after is just,

If not more,

Important.

How can you keep yourself safe?

How can you move mindfully?

Because let me tell you,

On my way back down the mountain,

Both the actual and the metaphorical,

The more afraid I was,

The more I felt as if I were about to fall.

Inhale.

Exhale.

So on my way down my mountain,

I talked to a stranger.

I thanked the tree that helped me,

And I slid on my ass.

Do what you have to do to keep you safe as you make your descent back into the real world after you've climbed your mountain.

And make sure to look around,

And look inside,

And marvel.

Namaste.

Reviews

When I listened to this the first time I had to just laugh to myself. The people I know always tell me they think I could trip on air! I would get down that mountain so fast because I would be falling head over heels!🤪 I tell people that I think the floor looked sad so I gave it a hug! Right now I’m “climbing a mountain” because I’m facing back surgery and I’m frightened. I hope when it is finished, my descent will be relief. All I can do is put it in God’s hands and pray everything goes smoothly. I know that if I listen to you while recuperating, the time will seem much shorter. I feel blessed that I have found your messages because you help me feel grounded.😊 Thank you so much!🦋

Thank you! Yet again a message I needed just when I needed it💜

I seached on your web site earlier this week as you hadnt posted for a while....listened to this a few days ago in the car driving home....keeping myself safe ......aroha from Nz

PS right and wrong DECISIONs re email

Mountains require a little salt-especially on the downhill slide. Thanks for the very pertinent reminder.

I'd give my left arm to have my mountain back.
I'm a lefty.
My mountain SUCKED. My mountain was the most terrifying, daunting and humbling experience of my life.
My mountain's cremains are in a box in the downstairs armoire.
This new mountain, this Lonely Mountain (apologies to Thorin Oakenshield), is immeasurably, inexpressably more horrible than the last one.
But I'm still climbing.
It was a difficult evening, though, and, as usual, you came through for me once again.
Thank you, Betsy.
Namaste

It was amazing, insightful and compassionate, thank you!

Thank you for this reminder - spoken the way I would.

I enjoy the salty ones, LOL
Well, I think I'm at the top of the mountain, but very afraid to go down. This reminded me of the work I've done to move forward in healing. I dont think I have the energy to climb back of again. Hench...the comment on staying safe. Hard to measure that. Minor triggers only take about 2 weeks to tytrate down. Thats good.
Thank you Betsy.

WOW thank you so much! So relatable, I the cursing was also very welcome 😆 thank you!

Good morning Betsy great anology ..thanks again for yet an amazing meditation.. fits perfect in my world and I'm sure and lots of others, saltiness is just perfect part of life.. have a great day!

Loved this one, salt and all! Great message. Namaste 🙏

Thank you very much.

I can't remember if I've listened to this before, but, I needed this, right now. There have been, and will be many mountains. Crying. Tears of accomplishment, pain, and resolve. Namaste. 💫