"The Old Man Of The Mountain..."

"When I was young, very young, I remember reading a book, sadly now lost, that told the story of a rather strange old man who lived at the top of a particularly high mountain. This man knew all the answers to all the questions; all you had to do was climb the mountain and ask him. I always wanted to find the old man before I grew too old myself and ask him my own questions...".  N. Shulman
I've always so appreciated this quote. It reflects a wonderful exercise we did on Outward Bound so long ago. Nowadays as well, I often ponder who will I meet up upon my next mountain quest. What kind of Elder will be up high, patiently waiting for us to pose those quiet meaningful questions we all have inside...
On Outward Bound, we talked about the very ancient story of the 'Old Man Of The Mountain'. Then we were to envision a mountain of our own choice, a summit challenging yet engaging, a place of rock and stone, even ice and snow if we wanted, yet a contented wild place to be in. Then we were asked to imagine, because such rarified air and endless vistas allows this - our meeting an ancient welcoming Elder up there. This person would eventually answer for us all the questions we were eager to ask, but first, in turn, this sage asked something of us...
We were to picture ourselves aging as well, see ourselves - a few, then five, fifteen, even twenty five or more years out ahead. We were to long pause at each of these waypoints of time and life, and gently ask of ourselves:
What are we doing with our time... Where are we at in our lives...
Who is sharing this with us... What has been moving and motivating us...
Are we happy... Are we enjoying meaningful experiences...
After then, this friendly knowing Mountain Elder would answer any of our other questions - but now, as this Elder knew all along, many of the answers, those realizations and new perceptions, were already dawning upon us...
Now this ancient one would invite us to let those growing messages, those soft echoes, all truly be heard - for they came from the Elder within ourselves, up upon our chosen mountain, and were very much meant for our younger self. For all those things our 'Elder within' could envision unfolding over all those years, that were meaningful and meant to be - are available to us still in the beginnings before us right now. Such possibility, energy, and potential we all still have..... DSD