Crestfallen to Inspiration

Today I had thought about introducing in a lighthearted way my fellow climbers and team members. I woke excitedly and tuned in to Messrs Moyles and Barlow on Radio One launching their respective Red Nose Charity Pages to get me in the mood and find my own inspiration for the nicknames missing from my list. I thought to myself how glad I am to be climbing Kilimanjaro ahead of the Comic Relief Nine, because after March 13th its bound to be on everyones list of things to do given the amount of publicity the event will generate.
Enter Cheryl Cole (who I like a lot, and is usually on the money when it comes to giving interviews) but who today went on and on about how dangerous Kilimanjaro is and how many people had died attempting the summit.
Her uninspiring contribution this morning itself, then gave way to news from Snowdon concerning the deaths on the mountain overnight, of two brothers, caught out it seems by the extreme conditions.
Suddenly all my exuberence was gone. I recalled my own hands and knees crawl in terrible conditions to the top of that very same mountain.
The joviality of Moyles and Barlow seemed out of place. I was completely crestfallen! Exactly a week ago today I wrote about "Never Never Ever Underestimate the Mountain" How those words have haunted me today.
I thought about my boys and the comments from their mother on Friday who is completely unsupportive of my existence let alone my climb. I thought also of the families of those two men and what they must be going through today. And I thought of my own mortality and the fear of something happening to me over the next couple of weeks.
Suddenly I remembered Charlie saying one of our team, Dean, had gone to climb Snowdon himself this weekend, so I called to see if he was back OK. Charlie didn't know and seemed somewhat indifferent to my enquiry. I felt a bit foolish for asking and began to think I was sounding just like Cheryl Cole myself. Then I remembered my "writing on the wall". The inspirational sayings that were until recently stuck to my bedroom wall and which I carry with me at all times. These have been invaluable to me these last few months. Today one in particular has struck a cord and seems entirely appropriate.
As I finalised my Kit List this afternoon and struggled back through the ever increasing snowfall I said it over and over again to myself whilst recalling the contents of the Kilimanjaro Project I completed with Ben last week. If Ben and Harry learn anything from me, it will be this:-
"In the end, its not the years in your life that count. Its the life in your years!"