Behind the city of Colorado Springs, at the back of the U.S. Air Force Academy stands a mountain called Eagle Peak
which is popular among local hikers, and Scouts in particular. From its summit you can peer into the depths of
the Rocky Mountains on one side or overlook the vast expanse of the Great Plains on the other. Each summer
the trail leading to the peak is trod by those who’ve walked its track before as well as those who make of it a new experience.
The inexperienced hiker is generally always told, if he cares to ask, that the hike will take all day to go up and back.
He is told to start early and to set a strong, steady pace for the journey will be difficult and rigorous.
The inexperienced hiker who follows the advice and plans accordingly can be easily disappointed and even
become angry or confused upon reaching the beginning of the trail, because he can see with his own eyes from
the parking lot that the hike to the summit and back would take far less than half a day with little difficulty at
even the most leisurely pace.
And so he changes his plans. He meanders up the trail wandering frequently from the path, taking numerous side-trips and detours. He stops to play and to snack on some of the supplies he had brought since he obviously won’t need so much for such a short trip. He goes well out of his way to avoid some of the more difficult parts of the trail.
This he does until about half way through the day when he finally climbs to the summit only to discover that it
was his eyes which had deceived him and not the words of those who had gone before. For he now stands on
a false summit which had blocked his view of the higher summit far above.
Realizing his lack of foresight, this hiker now quickly reevaluates his time and decides that if he pushes himself
hard enough he can still make it to the summit and back before it gets too dark. And so he sets off at a frantic
pace; stumbling, crashing through the bush, receiving bruises, scrapes and scratches as the sun moves steadily
toward the horizon. Until at last he reaches his mark and looks up at still another summit. You see, Eagle Peak
has two false summits, both of which must be travelled over before reaching the real goal. Our inexperienced
hiker now sadly begins his trek back down the mountain knowing he fell short of the goal he had sought after.
He will try again another day, for there are many beautiful days in Colorado Springs. Wiser for his experience,
he will doubtlessly reach his goal on the next occasion.
In our journey through life, however, we are not so fortunate. There are many false summits and if you strive
toward only those goals which you can see, you will fall far short of the genuine goal.
科羅拉多斯普林斯市以北、美國空軍學院后身聳立著一座山——伊格爾山，在當?shù)氐巧秸咧蓄H有名氣，其中以斯考特峰最負盛名。站在山頂既能飽覽落基山脈之深遠，又能俯瞰大平原之遼闊。每逢夏日，通向山頂?shù)男÷芳扔腥斯实刂赜?，也有人初次拜訪。
但凡初來乍到的新手問起登山之路，得到的答復往往是：往返需一整天，山路艱險崎嶇，要趁早動身。采納此建議并據(jù)此安排行程的新手往往剛到出發(fā)地就大失所望，繼而怒火中燒，困惑不解。放眼望去，從停車場到山頂，途中并無多少陡峭之處，即便悠然緩行，往返也不消半日。
于是改變計劃：時而悠閑漫步于山間小徑；時而取道去別處一游；時而駐足消遣一番，嘗嘗隨身帶的點心，路途既短，何需負重太多；時而想方設法避開陡峭路段。一路走來，爬上山頂已近中午，才發(fā)現(xiàn)為自己眼睛所騙，前人之言無誤。此處并非伊格爾峰，卻剛好擋住了更高的山峰。
登山者后悔目光短淺，迅速重新估算時間，斷定只要全力以赴就還有希望在天黑前登頂而返。于是疾步如飛，穿越灌木叢時多次絆倒，身上多處劃傷。日薄西山之際終于到達目的地，抬頭只見前方竟還有一座山峰。此時方知，原來伊格爾峰前面有兩座山，是登臨伊格爾峰必經(jīng)之路。年輕的登山者知道已經(jīng)無法登臨伊格爾峰，只好步履蹣跚，失望而歸。在科羅拉多斯普林斯市的良辰佳日尚多，他會擇日再來。有了這次經(jīng)歷，登山者變得聰明了，下次定能實現(xiàn)目標。
然而，人生之旅并非如此幸運。處處是似是而非的頂峰，倘若奮斗的目標只限于登上目力所及的頂峰，就永遠無法到達真正的頂峰。
