In the shadow of the climb ahead

How do you eat an elephant? One spoonful at a time.

This is a typical and abstractedly useless saying that I have heard in regards to having to complete a huge task. I mean, how rediculous is it, one spoonfull at a time. It makes an elephant sound like a huge construction made of ice-cream. I mean, consider the tendons; what is a spoon going to do to them? And then there are the bones. I even doubt whether a spoon would get through the skin of an elephant, let alone be able to scoop it into easy mouthfuls. No, this supposedly inspiring and encouraging statement should be ammended to be more realistic.

How do you eat an elephant? With the help of specialised tools (like a very big over, a large selection of large knives, hammers, etc), a huge blender, endless supplies of herbs and spices, and a very very very strong stomach! A spoon, while helpful in the later stages, is optional.

How do you complete two assignments in a day? One spoonful at a time - HAH. One spoonful at a time is how assignments drag from one day to another. So how do you complete two assignments in a day? With:

• grit - you have to push yourself in the extremis.
• resolve - you have to let them go when the time is up.
• plenty of spicy chicken soup to keep you awake!

But right now, the task ahead looms over me like a mountain, dark, cold, and obviously impassable. There are dangers there, wild creatures, obscure questions, unknown concepts lurking to trip one up. And there is that fear, that even though the mountain is without a doubt insurmountable, it must be climbed.

It is cold in the shodow of the climb ahead, a coldness that sends shivers from deep within the heart. It is cold and lonely - you stand in the shadow alone. It is the cold grip of fear, of failure sending its questing tendrils into your soul. But no matter how long you stand, cold, alone, and fearful, the mountain remains, growing slightly every moment, bloated from digesting the passing minutes that could be used in scaling it.

So this is my mountain; VIS14:A2 and LST210:A4. And tomorrow, POI21:A1. Then the next day, and the next, and the next, the last days before the sander is hired during which so much must be done at the other house. A range of mountains, high, cold, and aloof, one after the other. Truly, it is not the mountain we must conquer, but ourselves.