Once there was a bright young man who lived unhappily in a valley, until he went to see an old man who lived on a peak. When he was younger, he had been happy in his valley. He played in its meadows and swam in its river.
The valley was all he had ever known, and he thought he would spend his whole life there.
Some days in his valley were cloudy and some were sunny, but there was a sameness to his daily routine that he found comforting.
However, as he grew older, he began to see what was wrong more often than he noticed what was right. He wondered why he had not noticed before how many things were wrong in the valley.
As time went on, the young man became increasingly unhappy, although he wasn't sure why.
He tried working at different jobs in the valley, but none turned out to be what he had hoped for.
In one job, his boss always seemed to criticize him for what he did wrong and never noticed all the things he did right.
In another, he was one of so many employees that it didn't seem to matter to anyone whether he worked hard or hardly worked at all. His contribution seemed invisible, even to himself.
Once, he thought he had finally found what he wanted. He felt appreciated and challenged, he worked with capable colleagues, and he was proud of the company's product. He worked his way up and became manager of a small department.
Unfortunately, he felt his job was not secure.
His personal life was no better. One disappointment seemed to follow another.
He thought his friends didn't understand, and his family told him he was "just going through a phase."
The young man wondered if he would be better off someplace else.
Sometimes the young man would stand in the meadow and look up at the range of majestic peaks that rose high above his valley.
He would imagine himself standing on the nearby peak.
For a while, he felt better.
But the more he compared the peak to his valley, the worse he felt.
He spoke to his parents and friends about going to the peak. But they talked only about how difficult it was to reach the peak, and how comfortable it was to stay in the valley.
They all discouraged him from going where they themselves had never been.
The young man loved his parents and knew there was some truth to what they said. But he also knew that he was a different person from his father and mother.
Sometimes he felt there might be a different way of life outside the valley, and he wanted to discover it for himself. Maybe on the peak he could gain a better view of the world.
But then doubt and fear crept in again, and he thought he would stay where he was.
For a long time the young man could not bring himself to leave his valley.
Then one day, he recalled his early youth and realized how much had changed since then. He was no longer at peace with himself.
He wasn't sure why he changed his mind, but he suddenly decided he had to go visit that mountaintop.
He put his fear aside and got ready to leave as quickly as he could. Then, he set out for the nearby peak.
It was not an easy journey. It took him much longer than he thought it would to make it less than halfway up the peak.
But as the young man went higher, the cool breeze and fresh air revitalized him. From higher up, his valley looked smaller.
When he had been down in the valley, the air seemed clean enough. But when he viewed the valley from above, he saw the pale brown stagnant air that was trapped there.
Then he turned and continued upward. The higher he climbed, the more he could see.
Suddenly, the trail he was following ended.
With no trail to follow, he became lost among the thick trees that blocked out the light. He feared he would not find his way out.
So, he decided to cross a dangerously narrow ridge. As he did, he fell. Bruised and bleeding, he picked himself up and continued on.
Eventually, he found a new path.
The warnings of the people in the valley crossed his mind. But then he gathered his courage and kept climbing.
The higher he went, the happier he became, knowing that he was leaving the valley and putting aside his fears.
He was on his way to someplace new.
As he rose above the clouds, he realized it was a beautiful day and imagined how the sunset would look from the summit. He could hardly wait to see it from up there.
Copyright © 2009 by Spencer Johnson, M.D.