Mountain climbing was a true way of testing my courage. The part of the experience that was most difficult was also the simplest; it is merely the action of taking a single, upward step on the cliff-face. But while the muscles allowing the movement are not aware of the consequences of their actions, save the burning, fermenting respiration of the muscles, the mind is, and getting my mind around that simple step was a challenge I was never sure I could overcome.

I have been challenged before, sometimes by others, but most often by my own self, striving to break out of that feeling of cowardice. I began testing myself as a direct response to the fear I had felt in other situations and the regret that usually followed when I fa

iled to conquer that fear. I disliked being afraid, but I disliked even more the way I thought of myself as I succumbed to that fear; as a result, I would force myself to do whatever it was that I was afraid of.

It has occurred to me that all of my victories over hesitation and fear were, up to that point, brought about by necessity. The necessity, however, was not external but internal. Lives had never depended on my facing fear; nor had friendships or jobs or grades. Rather, it was my own psyche - my ego, my self-image, my determination to succeed (and, in a few aberrant cases, a pitiful desperation) - which began forcing me to do those things which scared me. I considered later that climbing a mountain might have been different; I had, after all, paid nearly two thousand dollars for this opportunity, and to back out at this point would not provide for a refund. I rejected this possibility, however. Standing at the edge of fourteen thousand and five hundred feet, I was not thinking about my money; the only thing I was thinking about was how I could bring myself to return the ground-the ultimate thrusting onto me of the reality of my life, which I found freedom from on top of the world. The experience had focused and defined my drive to overcome my fear of heights, and I realized that if I was able to conquer such a direct and immediate fear, it was possible to conquer all others. Though it sounds like an inspirational cliche, it had shown me that my determinatio

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Approximate Word count = 995
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)