“Did you see me up there?” he asked with a big smile.

“Did I see you?” I hate it when people respond to my questions with a question, but his own took me by surprise. I did see this stranger from afar, cradling his little boy with matching red hair down the slope of a trail. I hadn’t thought anything past the loving gesture of them spending time together.

“I just climbed to the top! It was great,” he said with his hands on his hips, gazing proudly at the monstrous rock he was referring to. I followed his gaze to the multilevel rock with a reward of green grass dotted with flowers on top. True, it was a little odd that this person I had never met was confiding in me, but something about him made me stick around and see what else he had to say.

“When I was younger, my parents brought me here every summer. We came right here to this rock and my dad would climb it. He said ‘I can’t carry you, but if you can climb it you can come with me.’ I always tried, but ended up sitting at the bottom and waiting for him to come down,” he said with a laugh. “He’d climb up there and sit on top for about a half-hour. I always wondered what he found so interesting up there. Today, I finally found out. The view was amazing.”

Even only knowing this man for a few minutes I could see the pride radiating from him. It was an interesting revelation. Here he was, probably thirty years old, with a family of his own, and yet I was witnessing a rite of passage for him. He had accomplished a life’s goal that day and was basking in its glory. What might seem small to someone else was huge in his life.

“I took a picture for my dad when I was on top,” he said energetically. He proceeded to tell me about their plans of swimming to an island off the chilly Oregon coast. It seemed, though he was pleased about this win, that he was on to the next item on his list.

We all have these little goals that are special to us alone. I don’t take any offense when I tell people about wanting to self-publish and they say ‘Oh, that’s nice,’ with a forced smile. It’s my goal, not theirs. Some people want to accomplish a marathon (I’d only do this if I was being chased by a pack of wolves!) while others simply want to make it through the workweek. One person might be striving for the next promotion at work while another is doing their best to shed the last five pounds.

Whatever the task, however big or small, accomplishing it means that we’re progressing in our lives. Having a goal and working towards seeing it through to completion means that we aren’t stagnant. Isn’t that one reason we have these glorious lives? It isn’t only to watch hours of Netflix (I happen to love this too!). It’s to go after our dreams so we can be the best version of ourselves that we can be. It’s about setting those goals, taking steps to see them to completion and, most importantly, enjoying the process along the way.