The Climb

Strong words were exchanged. Challenges issued. The young man felt certain that he could prevail. After all, his opponent was over twice his age. Surely his youth would be to his advantage–advantage enough for him to win.

As he thanked the little Asian lady who spoke limited and heavily-accented English for the paddles and ping-pong ball (and assured her that he would be certain to bring them back in 30 minutes), he turned to head towards the table where the old man was waiting.  Can I really beat him? he thought to himself while walking towards the table, all the while appearing confident on the outside.  Various slang phrases meant to intimidate the old man were spewing from his mouth.

“You’re gonna get owned, you trash-bucket-eater!  ”You better back up, fart-knocker.”  His style of trash talk didn’t make much sense to those around him, and almost seemed to embarrass his wife who was standing by with her camera, But that didn’t slow him down.  ”Your mom could beat you, you little girl!” he continued.  The old man just listened and almost smirked a little bit as the trash talk continued.

With one swift movement, the ball was served and the game began. The young man wasn’t as ready as thought he was. The old man proved to be a more worthy opponent than he had given him credit for. Would he be able to claim his victory after all? Would all his creative trash talk be for naught?

The game continued, filling up almost the entire 30 minutes alloted to them. The young man battled valiantly, but every time he though he had the edge, the old man would come back and make him sweat. A lot.

In the heart of the battle, even when the young man was giving it everything he had, the old man seemed relaxed, jovial even. It drove the young man crazy. How can he be so calm? Why is he not drenched in sweat like me? What is his secret?

The young man knew he had to step up his game. There were a couple of drunk fat guys waiting for their turn at the table. The little Asian lady would surely be wondering why he hadn’t brought back the ball and paddles yet. But what could he do? In a last ditch effort to pull off the win, the young man rared back, stuck out his tongue, and fired one last shot at the old man.

To this day, no one knows what happened next. It seems the wife got too wrapped up in the game herself to even take any pictures of the aftermath of that last shot. Suffice it to say that THIS was the game of the century, and those who were there will never be the same again.

Who won, you ask? To tell you the truth, it never really was about winning or losing anyway. Because when you think about it, there’s always going to be another mountain. You’re always going to want to make it move. It’s always going to be an uphill battle, and sometimes you’re going to have to lose. You see, it’s not about how fast you get there. And it’s not about what’s waiting on the other side. It’s the climb.