Speak to Your Mountain
by LeCount R. Holmes, Jr.

It was a bright, sunny day in Georgia, not unlike any afternoon at a park where the voices of children resounded in laughter during boyish games. I was in the courtyard just outside the recreation center, waiting to speak to he Director of Programs. While I was standing in the streaming sunlight, watching young boys between the ages of ten through sixteen climb the simulated rocky mountain trail fashioned against the wall of the Center, one boy stood trembling before the artificial precipice, in anticipation of climbing.

Many of the other boys were scrambling up the brightly pegged footholds, yet this young fellow hesitated, his extreme nervousness making him a target for the jeers and jibes of his contemporaries. He would grab hold to a hand stone, putting his foot on a rung near the ground, and then, fall away from the wall. Each time he fell, the jeers grew louder. After a moment of observation and reflection, remembering the times children would laugh at me during early playground days, I quietly approached the boy, so as not to startle him.

Speaking quietly, yet firmly, I said to him, "you can do it, and I'm going to help you." He looked up at me, and I saw a tremendous light of hope shine up from his eyes. We looked at the "mountain" together, and as we pointed to the rungs, I continued to talk. "I know you can do it," I encouraged. Cupping my hands, I allowed him to place first one foot and then the other into my hands, and in this manner, I was able to boost him off into the mountain's walls. At first, he was relying on my hands, but soon, he was relying on his own ability, and he began to climb.

As he climbed higher and higher, the jeers from his peers became cheers, and the laughter and encouragement from his friends, and my now silent bolster, urged him on and he climbed nearer and nearer to the top. It's hard to tell who was more surprised at his accomplishment. He was certainly please at making it after having been so unsure of himself. His critics, now turned friends, were ready to welcome him into the ranks of the brave.

I, having often coached people, young and old, to accomplish feats such as climbing Stone Mountain, swimming across Olympic pools, winning at table tennis, weight lifting, and even public speaking, was not surprised. Yet, I was almost overwhelmed with the emotion of having seen yet another youth emerge from the dearth of low self-esteem into the brilliant freedom of the reality of having accomplished the "impossible dream."

For me, this experience was a welcome chapter in the life of a seasoned traveler who lives to inspire others to dig into themselves and to bring out their true essence.