THE LADDERS WE CLIMB

Life moves us in many directions.

At times, we are climbing upward, and the flow of life seems to support our ascent. The ladder beneath us feels steady, almost as if it knows where we are going.

Then there are moments when the movement becomes unsettling. The ladder shakes. We lose our footing. From these moments, we learn what falling feels like.

So we rest.

We regain our balance, our momentum, our sense of direction.

And when we begin again, we are more careful. We make sure the ladder is firmly placed before we continue. We pause. We reflect.

With each step upward, the view changes.

What once felt unclear slowly comes into focus.

And we realize we were always climbing toward this—

not just height, but clarity.

The ladder of life that we carry is something to be proud of. It holds every step we’ve taken, every pause, every moment we had to steady ourselves before continuing. Its strength was built through experience, not ease. We don’t carry it as proof of how high we’ve climbed, but as evidence of resilience, wisdom, and the quiet courage it took to keep going.