Sometimes... You have to go OVER the mountain.

When I blog, normally I have an idea of what I wish to talk about. However, that rarely ends up being what the blog is about. One of my favorite shows on Television is HEROES. If you haven't seen it, it's somewhat like XMEN for TV, but more of a dramatic series. One of the people who had a special power was a guy named Isaac Mendez. Isaac died before the end of Season one but he had a very interesting power... He could Paint the future. When he would paint, his eyes would go totally and completely white, and he was like he was in a trance. He didn't awake until he was done with the painting.. Ironically, he never knew what he was going to paint... The ability just took over his hands and he created what he did.


Pretty much, that would describe me when I blog.... I may go in to talk about one thing but normally, something totally different comes out. As I type now, my mind is moving faster than my hands and the keystrokes are struggling to match the speed. My ideas are bouncing all around in my head like Mexican Jumping beans. The title is usually the last thing that I write... but this time, it was the first. My energy is telling me that this will not be a generic blog... It will speak to someone specifically. I have no idea who or whom or whatever the proper grammatical term is but I just know what I'm feeling.


Going over the mountain is a metaphor for the struggles we carry and the burdens that we must endure in our lifetime. Life is a series of struggles. It can be a puzzle, enclosed in a riddle, wrapped around an enigma. It's human nature that we as imperfect beings constantly wish for the simpliest passage to our destinations. It's in our nature. As newborns, we are carried everywhere, and in our youthful and newborn minds, we get used to that comfort and satisfaction. If I can't make it over there to the snacks, let me cry and Mommy or Daddy will carry me to it, or they will get it for me.

Fast forward to your teenage years and when you are starting to find your independence, you handle that same situation in a different light. If you cannot reach that which you are trying to obtain what does one normally do? Pout? Sulk? Complain? Yes, Yes, and yes. Why? Because you have "grown" too large to be carried by the arms that once lugged you around when you were smaller. As you grow, your problems do the same. Your struggles mature as your physical body matures. (Mental issues are a different type of maturity...we'll get there in a second)


Take for instance the young girl who develops faster than the others.. .She becomes the object of young boys hormones far before her female counterparts... In this, she becomes isolated and takes one of two roads, Acceptance, or Resentment. Acceptance of this type of attention usually leads to struggles in relationships as far as giving far too much of ones self far too easily. This is the female who has the children at the early age because she was so excited that someone showed that interest in her while she was coming to grips with who she was. (The middle finger wishes to state that we show no disrespect to you if you fall in this category... we believe that it is not totally all your fault, You should have been taught better.)

The other road, the resentment, is the one who constantly has the struggle with wondering, "Does people like me, or how I look." At an early age, it's hard to dicipher.... but sometimes, Yes, "A nukka just likes your ass and titties" It is what it is.


What do these both tie into, "Self Confidence" Belief in one self worth. You may be asking, "Yo, Middle Finger, you ain't really hit me yet... What is the deal with that, playboy?" To that I just gotta respond, "It's coming, let me light the candles and set the mood, baby, don't rush it."

Self Confidence plays a major role in one's ability go over the mountain. It's something that God instills in you once you realize who you are within His eyes. Go back to your toddler days... When you first took those first steps and you were so shaky that you looked like you were going to topple over after each step. Sometimes, you did, and sometimes you were able to go a little longer. Then you upgraded to 2 steps, 3 steps, being able to walk 6 feet, 10 feet, 15 feet, until you were able to just stroll around the house like you was grown.

I always talk about P90X and the workouts and how good I feel after each one. Yeah, I be stylin' on you lazy cats...but When I first started P90X i hated it. It was so hard. The pushups, the Pullups, The lifts, the jumps, the kicks, it was dreadful. Alas, I knew what I wanted from this workout. I knew that If I had the confidence in myself that I could get through it, if I would not succumb to the pain and give up, but rather keeping pushing forward, I would have the body and fitness that I desired. Almost 3 weeks in, I'm already seeing results.


There were times where things came up and they tried to take me out the routine of working out or possibly skipping a workout and normally, I would do just that... but I felt I had to be steadfast in this. Obidient to the discipline that I set for myself..with the working out, the diet, pushing myself to see what I was made of. The series of workouts work together to form one's body into a sculpted masterpiece. So that's the end goal I want. Yet, to get to that prize, I have to do the workouts, I have to keep pushing, and it's never going to be easy because they get tougher each day, but I keep climbing...

"You mean like climbing a mountain, Middle Finger?"

You got it, my friend.


Former slave and abolitionist, Frederick Douglass, said, "Without Struggle, there is NO progress." I've learned in life that God truly loves me. He loves me so much that He forces me sometimes to go the long route, the hard way, OVER THE MOUNTAIN, to see what he wants me to see. The gorgeous thing about succeeding or reaching your goal when you have to go OVER the mountain is when you get to the top, you can actually look back to see where you came from. Not only can you see immediately where you came from but you can look FURTHER behind you into your past and see that where the enemy wanted you to destroy yourself, you didn't.


For whatever reason, you perservered, you endured, you lasted. Going over the mountain is so much harder than going around it. It's tougher. The terrain is much more treacherous. It's easier to lose your way. You're open to attacks, and you cannot hide from that wish chases you. Most of the time, you know what your mountain is, and again, in human nature, you want the easiest way to get to your destination. Think back to the Potrait that many of our mothers and grandmothers hung in the halls of our homes, the story of the man on the beach and the one set of footprints... Long story short, a guy had a dream and God was with him on a beach but he only saw one set of footprints. He asked God, "Why did you leave me?" To that God replied, "Son, I'll never leave you(I'm paraphrasing), if you saw only one set of footprints, it's because I carried you.


While I love that piece of artwork, I know from experience that sometimes, God doesn't carry you. He doesn't leave you, but He requires you to do the heavy lifting. He is Mr. Myiagi and you are Daniel-San. You have to Sand the Floor(big circle) Paint the Fence, (UPPPPPPPPP DOOWWWWWWWWN), Wax On, Wax Off, Paint the House (Side to Side) and I know you get frustrated like Daniel did because Daniel was like, (What is this? I'm doing this hard work, going through all these struggles, I can't cheat or find a way around besides going over, but I'm not seeing not one result) while Myiagi is taking his time, chillin, going fishing, doing Crane kicks on stumps, putting on old Army clothes and getting drunk thinking about old loves, and my muscles are KILLING ME.

But what happened? Daniel learned the hard way...He didn't understand that what he was doing was getting him ready for the bigger picture...that of which is to come. We all know the story. Daniel ended up winning the tournament with the Crane kick that we all used to practice(guys mostly) at the Boys Club karate class.


Do you think Daniel could have won if he didn't have to go OVER his mountain instead of around it? In your struggles, in your pain, in your lonely places where you feel isolated and desolate and defeated.... Keep your legs moving. Don't stop where you are. It's not the place where you are going to end up. Yes, your mountain may be huge.... It may look as if it cant be climbed. You may not believe that you can make it. Everything could be against you... Your body, your mind, your spirit may all be tired and you just wanna be carried to the top.

You may scream out to God that you don't have the strength, you don't have the ability to make it one more step.....If and when you do this, and you do not hear or receive a response(breakthrough), then God is telling you....You have further to go, my child. I'm here... but I want to see you do this. I know you can do this because I know what I have put into you. Keep pushing, beloved. Don't give up on Me.... The reward is too great. But, you have to find the will, the grit, the FAITH, that you can get over this mountain.


This is the Middle Finger... telling you, when you become enlightened by God, The Hard Way, in retrospect, is the Easy Way.