Keep moving, even if the water hasn’t parted yet

The summit of Kilimanjaro (February 2023)

When I said yes to climbing Kilimanjaro, I had no idea if I’d actually make the summit. Nine days, 19,341 feet, and more doubt than I’d like to admit, but that mountain taught me something about faith and persistence. I still wasn’t sure on summit night as we suited up at midnight, fueled only by popcorn and sheer willpower. But off we went. One step and then another. For nine and a half hours we climbed, slowly, steadily, in the dark. And then, finally, the summit came into view.

Standing at the top was emotional. This thing I’d worked so hard for actually happened. I did it. I climbed to a place where airplanes fly. And somewhere in that thin air, something in me shifted. The mountain didn’t just show me a view; it showed me myself. All the strength I’d been chasing had been there all along. The courage, the grit, the heart for adventure, the love of lifting others; it wasn’t something I had to find, it was something I had to remember. The mountain stripped away everything that wasn’t me and left behind everything that was.

Lately, I’ve been listening to Hoda Kotb’s new book Jump and Find Joy. In one section, she talks about what it means to move in the direction of your dreams, that sometimes you just have to go. Take Moses, for instance. Most of us picture the Red Sea parting dramatically as he arrived at the edge, but in reality, he was already waist-deep before anything happened. He kept walking, kept trusting, kept believing, and then God showed up. The same is true for our dreams and our plans. We have to keep moving, even when the water hasn’t parted yet.

You hit an obstacle? It happens. Run into a roadblock? Improvise. Feel your stamina fading? Dig deep and keep going. You have to keep moving in the direction of your dreams.

So where are you standing waist-deep in the water, still waiting for it to part? Are you hoping for that next big break? Wondering where to go next in your business? Sitting at a crossroads unsure of what comes after this? Take a page from Moses — or from Dory, if that’s more your speed — and just keep swimming. Keep going. Even if the miracle hasn’t shown up yet. That’s where the epic stuff starts to happen. One foot in front of the other, friend.