Even the bad times...

I'm reading an excellent collection of essays and articles by wilderness author and mountaineer Cameron Mc Neish. A short description of a particularly difficult moment on a climb struck me as insightful; describing a few moments of very hard and committing climbing in a wilderness area, knowing he could not reverse his moves to escape, not being certain of the terrain ahead and appreciating that he was many miles from any assistance if things went wrong, he got through the moves ok and the vista thus revealed to him was a fabulous one. His reflection on those very tense moments was that "...even the bad times can offer teachable moments in which we can grow and further equip ourselves from that great storehouse known as experience." Words that should resonate for many more than just mountaineers!