What Do I Want From Life?

I stood on the peak of Mount Logan, the highest mountain in Canada. I could hear a chopper nearby, swarming in and out of the thick fog in the valley. I made it, I jumped up in the air and my body levitated. I floated to the edge of the peak. Now, what do I do? I thought as I reminisced about all the triumphs, milestones, and achievements of my life. I looked down and saw the valley under my feet. Holy shit! My body jerked and I fell in the fog.

“Take the rope,” I heard a familiar voice. I looked up and saw the military chopper. I grabbed the rope and they pulled me up.

“It’s time for you to climb the second mountain,” the familiar voice said. I looked at the pilot. It was Steve McCurry, the famous National Geographic photographer who took the portrait of the Afghan Girl in 1984. She was sitting in the co-pilot seat. She looked at me with her piercing green eyes. “Get on the second mountain,” she shouted. “What the fuck are you talking about?” I said and looked out the window. There were dinosaurs flying outside our chopper. “I’m dreaming,” I told Steve, “let’s fly” I opened the door and jumped out.

I woke up. I was in my bedroom. Wow, I scrubbed my eyes, what a dream.

For the next few days, I couldn’t stop thinking about them. I walked into my studio and pulled out Steve McCurry’s photo book, A Life in Pictures. I spent the next hour looking through his life’s work. This is what I wanted to do with my life, I thought as I studied the portrait of the Afghan Girl. ‘Get on the second mountain,’ her dreamy voice echoed in my ears. I closed the photo book, turned on my laptop, and Googled “Second Mountain.”

I couldn’t believe what came up. Second Mountain is a book written by David Brooks. I immediately bought a paperback copy and read it in one sitting.

In short, this book is meant to help us all lead more meaningful lives. You get on the first mountain when you want to achieve things, create wealth, and become successful. It’s all about the rat race. Then comes a time when you realize that the first mountain wasn’t your mountain after all and you end up in a valley. There’s another, bigger mountain out there that is actually your mountain. But how do we get there?

In the book, David Brooks writes:

…What do I want from life? What can I do to make myself happy? are not the proper questions. The real question is, What is life asking of me?

That is a deep question. But I believe the answer is simple. You know what life is asking of you. It may not be easy, glamorous, or lucrative. But it will be meaningful. So I asked myself, “What is life asking of me?” And immediately I saw the Afghan girl looking at me with her piercing green eyes.

I pulled out my notebook and wrote on the top of the page, “SHOOTING PLAN FOR WINTER HOLIDAYS.”