Regular readers of Local Life will know that Mind Body Soul Columnist Bernadette Petrie lost her battle with cancer at the end of last year.

Her husband, Dave, has graciously allowed us to keep sharing excerpts from Bernadette’s book for this column.

This time, Bernadette tells us that throughout life we’re constantly climbing – striving for something new, but it’s vital to stop, rest and enjoy the view.

I

 am a fairly regular climber of North Berwick Law. A few years ago, I found myself chuckling as I started my climb. A new sign had popped up at the start of the trail. It said ‘Summit Path’ with an arrow pointing in the correct direction, clearly there, to guide newbies in the right direction.

I chuckled because, as most readers will know, the Law is less than 200 metres to the top, and it takes 15 to 20 minutes to reach the summit. This is not to be underestimated, mind, I puff and pant every time I climb it, and by the end of this particular climb I thought of ‘the summit’ somewhat differently.

When I think of other much bigger hills and Munros I have scaled,
I admit to being a grumpy climber; “Are we there yet? This is hard! Why, why?” At that point in my life, I didn’t realise I had chosen this life; those hills were my powerful teachers. I often think back to that young woman, and coming across this sign made me giggle even more. Wow, I use to make things really hard for myself.

After climbing for about ten minutes, I became lost in thought, it happens every time. When I looked up, I was off track, and it took me a few seconds to find a path again and see the summit once more. I’d rested for a few seconds here and there, but with a new focus, I made a final non-stop push to the top – to ‘the summit’. Once there, I realised the message. When you get to the actual top of a climb, without question, that is the resting place. From there, you see an expanded view of your world, and there is no more climbing to do. You are there – you cannot physically climb any higher.

This is exactly like our spiritual journey. If we ignore the resting place and are constantly climbing, climbing, climbing, we are never actually at peace with who we are, where we are, and that place of striving – we are missing the point.

Each time I climbed the Law, I let more baggage go. When I get to the top I see something new, and so each time I have a new level of understanding about my life. I’m a different version of myself with every climb. There is no need for the Law to get bigger – the expansion happens on the inside. When I get to the top, there is no more climbing to be done on the hill of doubt. I focus on the resting place and reconnect with my current life – see it through this new lens.

I encourage you to climb your hill of doubt and only climb it when you want to. I encourage you to take breaks along the way, but when you get to the place that feels like a for-now resting place – rest! Take a moment to pause, relish the beauty of life unfolding beneath you, and embrace everything it reveals. In that space of acceptance and gratitude, you’ll find that you’ve grown in just the right way. You may find yourself repeatedly scaling this hill of doubt, but it’s your choice. Keeping that in mind will truly change your perspective.

As I write in 2019, I realise that it’s not about the destination; it’s about the daily experiences we encounter that we need to embrace and treasure and, in the process resist the temptation to strive endlessly for a dizzy spiritual height that would detach us from our humanity. From who we are on this earth, right here, right now. 

Article adapted from Bernadette’s book Permission to Shine – Chapter3
Buy book from: amazon.co.uk