You climb the mountain in an equilibrium between restlessness and exhaustion. Then, when you’re no longer thinking ahead, each step isn’t just a means to an end but a unique event in itself. This leaf has jagged edges, this rock looks loose, the snow is closer. These are things you should notice anyway. To live only for some future goal is shallow. It’s the sides of the mountain which sustain life, not the top. Here’s where things grow. But of course without the top you can’t have any sides. It’s the top that defines the sides.