How do I know I am growing? It’s when I no more derive satisfaction from smashing old obstacles. Something inside yearns for a bigger mountain.

But new mountains are not always fun to climb. There are some you’ll keep circling and circling for a long time before finding an opening to begin your first foot upward. Other new mountains don’t even have any path or opening anywhere. You have to weed your way slowly, painfully, step by step, till you get to the top.

Young people are always burning with desire to do big things, do them differently, perhaps better than their predecessors. They dream of becoming great. Can everyone really be great? Or it’s the destiny of a few?

When I see old people, I wonder what happened to some of those dreams they’ve always held onto in their youth. Have they achieved them all? Have they given up on them? Were some just illusions? Have they come to a point where no big goals are there to drive oneself towards? Or they have come to a point where they’ve realized life is not about hitting big goals. Perhaps, peace of mind and living a low key life too are big goals on someone’s menu.

And so when I think of mountains and constant challenges as symbols of growth, perhaps not everyone sees things that way. Perhaps, valleys too are symbols of growth. Perhaps, camping where others will rather journey on is a form of courage, a kind of challenge, an inherent growth process.

Perhaps growth means different things to different people.