Whatever you do this Valentine Day, or day before or hundreds of days after, be good to your heart, and reap rewards of loving and living in a world where there is room for everyone, and we can each have our own "space." The fountain of love never goes dry, and mine of diamonds and gold never runs out or precious metals, and even outer space is not limit to what people can do once they get started. Love yourself enough to love others and ENJOY! ©Arleen M. Kaptur 2003 January

Have you ever climbed an ice-covered ladder? I have and many times because I was raised in Maine where winters can get quite severe. It is quite a sight to see someone do that. Dangerous yes, but funny also if taken in right spirit. One rung up and two down. You never seem to get anywhere. The top was always just out of reach. I use to climb ladder in wintertime to shovel snow off roof of old house I had lived in. Rather than try to break ice off rungs for some sure footing, I would attempt this 7-8 foot climb barely making it at times. Most of time I just gave up. That is what most people do; they simply give up. I know because I was one of them. When going gets a little slippery and tough to manage and you seem to be making no headway, toughen up, don't give up, and get on with it. Once past rough, tough spots, you will make some major headway until next storms of life come around. Here is some good news. You WILL survive storms of life. You will handle next rungs on your ladder of life because you had guts to tackle those beneath you. Those are your victories. It is so much fun getting to top and looking down realizing your determination to win outweighed weight of regret for not having tried. Cleaning up rungs on ladder of life as you go helps you to maintain forward motion necessary for next rung, and next, until you reach top. Get obstacles out of way. Make a pathway AND keep looking up.

I remember another time while working for a utility company, I climbed a high-line pole out in a pasture, which was totally covered with ice about a ½" inch thick. To top that of it was in middle of a sleet storm and at nighttime. President Eisenhower had just been elected president of United States. Searchlights were beaming up at me from several utility trucks below making it even more difficult to see what with sleet and snow. It all froze immediately as it hit ground including pole I was about to climb. A power line had come loose because of weight of ice on it and fell on a small herd of cattle below killing several. Our job was to re-string wire. I was elected to climb pole.

Harnessed up, I began long climb to top carrying heavy gear as I went. Slamming my spikes in side of pole dislodged some of ice but there was still some that remained. I was having a very tough time. It was so cold that my joints were aching and climb was very slow and tedious. I slipped several times and would plummet a few feet towards ground when I'd get a spike driven into wood of pole and stop descent. Scared? No, of course not. Scared to death, yes. I finally made it to top, did what I was supposed to do and began my climb down. New ice had formed on pole and it was more difficult going down then it was going up.

It's not easy loosing ground especially when you have come so far. But it is necessary sometimes. Sometimes it is class time. It could be time to sit and be taught. Most adults don't like that, but it to is necessary. Don't stay in class to long. Put into practice what you've learned. That's why they made those chairs so small in early grades of school. Adults don't fit in them. Stay only long enough to learn lessons of life for your particular situation and circumstance. After all, a circumstance is only place where you are standing right now. You can move from it anytime you want to. ‘Want to' is key. You've got to learn to handle trouble before you can be blessed.

Now why these two stories you ask? Because both of them resemble our climb up ladder of life. Sometimes it is perilous. Sometimes it is scary and sometimes fun. It is a mixture of things. But most of time it is fun.

What a relief it was to get to top of that pole. I had not thought about difficulty in coming down especially what with new ice that had formed.

A like situation happened to me when I climbed The Enchanted Rock in Fredericksburg Texas. I did it twice; once when I was 65 and second when I was 69. It is about an hour to top of barren rock mountain and at an upward angle of about 30 to 40 degrees. It is tough to say least and not for faint of heart. Many gave up after just a few feet of climbing. It was especially hard if climbed in summer and heat soared in afternoon sometimes to over 100 degrees. But real problem was coming down. If you let your body momentum carry you to fast you would come crashing down possibly ending up with some very serious injuries.

Life is a climb but not necessarily a continuous climb. There will be detours, many of which will be unexpected. The question is how will you handle them? There will be times in which you will loose a fair amount of ground but good news is you can continue climb after battle. You do not have to stay on bottom rungs of your ladder of life.

There will be times in your life in which you will neither ascend nor descend. You'll stay right where you are until valuable lessons are learned and experienced. It is called learning time. To ascend without learning valuable lessons for living will only cause you to plummet ground ward, sometimes never to recover from fall.

There will be many opponents as you strive toward that which is good. Who are they? Anyone who is opposed to your forward movement in life. It is anyone who cannot stand to see others win. You will find them on every street corner. Stay alert and be aware of them. Their goal in life is to see you fall and to stay in that fallen condition. You are not a threat to them as long as you stay down.

Now there is a major opponent we ALL will constantly have trouble with. He seems to show up at every turn in road especially when we are trying our best to move forward in our endeavors. He is same one who whispered to Eve. "Go ahead Eve, make my day. Have a bite." Well she did and she got knocked off her ladder big time. So did her husband Adam. In fact it was so serious, they were expelled from their own home called Paradise. Now that is a fall! What a way to go. They had it made, but that is another story and for another time.

PART TWO FOLLOWING