As our quest of Half Dome continued, the views only became more spectacular; Rushing waterfalls, thick mists, and clear rivers flowed with an abundant supply of fish. As the sweet air continued to thin, the thought that we were getting closer to our destination was 
at the forefront of our minds. The images got better, but the trail only seemed to intensify. With every couple steps it was as if the incline continued to increase. People in our camp started to become severely out of breath. Tensions started to escalate, and water was beginning to run out. People began to worry if we were ever going to make it, and if we had enough rations of water and will to get us there. The problem was, we had all come too far now to turn back; we had to keep going.
One decision or one realization tends to lead to another. After I realized that keeping my head and eyes up were imperative to making it to the top, my body began to let me know of other areas that needed improvement. The more I forced myself to look up, the more I realized how difficult it was to keep my back straight. This was a critical.
As the road became rougher, and when air became a distant luxury, without my knowledge, my back had begun to slouch drastically. This made it harder to look up, and more difficult to press on. It was almost as if my back had begun to hang in submission to the gravity of the mountain, and conform to its shape.
The trail was dictating my attitude. My mood was high when the incline was low, and then my mood would become low when the incline was high. Like a boat tossed back and forth by inconsistent waters. My mountain had become the thermostat for my being, and it began to dictate the way i acted and carried myself.
Have you ever found yourself looking and acting more like your circumstance than yourself?
Martin Luther King said,
“A man can’t ride your back unless it’s bent”.
No person, no situation, no mountain, can take control over your life unless you let it.
Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world(John4:4)
Because of the grace bestowed to us, we don’t have to conform to any predicament.
It takes some strength, and toughness to choose to keep your back straight. To make the decision to fight for who you are, and to keep a standard that you will do whats right.
You may be in the fight of your life, things may be crashing down on you from every which way. But never under any circumstance, will those things dictate the type of person you are and can be. Keep the vision of where you’re going, and stay true to the beautiful and unique person that you are.
You’ve gone too far to turn back now.
Love.
Justin
Justin Sapp 