10 Lessons from Mount Sinai

Photo credit: JeeHye Lee

As if it was by God’s will, I was pulled to do an overnight trek up Mount Sinai (summit @7500ft). Moses climbed it twice for the Ten Commandments. While I do not have ten more commandments to share, below are 10 lessons I distilled from this experience.

1. Say yes to the nudge to go — the power in my apartment went out the morning of the trek, and it was not to return overnight, so I was given no reason to stay in town.
2. Take care of business AND live audaciously — before the trek, I went for a return checkup for my inflamed sinus. Somehow I was the first in line and finished in record time.
3. Let your desire run its course — on my way home from doctor, I ran into a boy crush who invited me to a Ramadan breakfast party. Upon hearing I was busy, he immediately wanted to do something the next day. I stay in the center now, no longer getting hijacked by runaway emotions.
4. You are surrounded by gods — two women on the same bus turned out to work for the UN-Cairo office on immigration issues. One of our guides turns out to be qualifying for the Paris 2024 Olympic at a race next month.
5. Go fast, go alone. Go far, go together — it is unimaginable to spend 3 hours ascending the mountain overnight alone, especially after a grueling gym workout in the morning. When we had a group, our motivation was ignited to push the limits.
6. Your inner guide knows the way — the moonlit uphill climb was more magical than the summit sunrise. I relished the silence and concentration required to see the path, which was always there. It is like our inner knowing that is omnipresent, if we tune out the noise to listen.
7. Love is always manifesting — another young guide offered to carry my bag both ways and expressed his affection gently. Life as a mountain guide can be lonely. I was grateful to acknowledge the attention without crossing boundaries. Love is ever flowing, looking for outlets.
8. Don’t give accidents more weight than they deserve — I dropped my iPhone and the back screen and partial front screen cracked badly. AppleCare doesn’t have coverage overseas so I have to wait until I return back to the US. This would have completely derailed me in the past — as a personal attack on my incompetence. Instead, I let myself feel the suck and paused before self blame. The seed of negativity steadily dissipated.
9. Welcome the meltdown — my sinus was inflamed, my phone was broken, my house was out of power, my glute was on fire from over use — yet my soul welcomed the physical burn, so I could become the goop inside the chrysalis, so something unprecedented could emerge.
10. Our souls are always one — how could I feel completely at home in the Bedouin desert with a group of Czech freedivers, UN do-gooders and Egyptian mountaineers without cell phone service? When we all cuddled under thick blankets on the mountain top, I knew this was exactly where I needed to be as we were bonded as friends.