Semi-repost

(Wrote this for a friend of mine on a different forum, but having been in mountains the last weekend, decided to put it here.)

It isn't that we conquer, for we aren't always strong.
It isn't that we succeed, for we can't always win.
It isn't that we prove, for sometimes we are wrong.
It isn't that we finish... only that we begin.

For no one builds strength without struggling against weight,
No one crosses the finish without first crossing the start,
No one proves a theorem without assumptions he can state,
And no one learns to love without risking a broken heart.

So stand before the mountain crags that seek to block your way,
And brace against the winds that bring dark storm clouds above,
As rain pours down around you, smile, knowing that, one day,
You'll stand on sun-lit summits because you dared to fall in love.