I'd like to share another excerpt from my just-released memoir, Journeying Well: On Life's Rocky Trails. You can get your very own copy here to read the whole story.
This is from the chapter, "Surviving, Healing, Thriving":
As I sat there on the glacier field, I looked up into the infinite coal black sky. Stars were everywhere. Stars stacked on stars leading to galaxies millions of miles away. The Big Dipper was perched just above Mt. Rainier, marking for me my True North. That’s the moment I found peace with my decision to not summit. There was no noise, save the regular breathing of my companions. There was no breeze and no sound for it to carry. There was only calm. My entire world at that moment was that glacier field, my two companions, our guide Lydia and the beautiful and indescribable immensity of the night sky. My world was calm, and that calmness enveloped me. I sat on that glacier disappointed but okay with myself. I had not failed, and I was not a failure.
