The harder the journey, the more rewarding the arrival

An iPhone wallpaper based on an inspiring dude.

iPhone wallpaper based on an inspiring dude
I encountered when I was climbing Mount Kinabalu.
iPhone 4 Version (640x960)

My last few wallpapers have generally been daft and stupid, but I made this next wallpaper when I was in a rare sensible mood, and it's based on a photo from a few years ago when I was climbing Mount Kinabalu in Borneo.

The mountain is only 4,095 metres high, so it's probably no more than a small hill to serious mountaineers, but to an amateur like me it was a totally massive effort to get to the top. By about halfway up my legs were starting to feel like jelly, so as I was hiking my way up to the summit I inevitably started to think to myself, 'Why did I ever voluntarily decide to put myself through this punishment!?'

However, just as me and my fellow backpackers were feeling as if our legs would go no further, we then passed a local porter who was carrying an object up to the overnight camp (3,270 metres up the mountain) and it quickly put our own efforts into perspective. Incredibly, the object the porter dude was carrying up the mountain on his back was a water tank, and as you can see from the photo, this thing was massive. So as we passed him we all stopped to give him approving nods of acknowledgement and appreciative shouts of encouragement for his incredible feat of strength.

Weirdly, seeing the dude with the massive water tank on his back seemed to give us all a renewed sense of motivation and we all had an extra spring in our step from that moment on. At the time it was a totally inspiring effort by the dude and it made for a cool photo, so I've resized the photo and added an appropriately cool saying to it to make it into an iPhone wallpaper. The photo featured at the top of this blog post is the the iPhone 4 version and the following image is the iPhone 5 version:

The harder the journey, the more rewarding the arrival.
iPhone 5 version (640x1136)

Sometimes inspirational people can be famous people like C.S. Lewis or Nikola Tesla for example, but other times inspiring people can be normal excellent people who are just quietly getting on with their everyday job. I probably find the photo more inspiring than most people because I actually got to witness the porter dude's impressive portering skills first hand, but hopefully other people will also find it a cool photo as well.

As a writer, I reckon the photo could also be a good inspiration for anyone who has just started writing their first book. I know from my own experience that writing a book takes a lot of time and effort, but after months or years when you eventually make it to the end and finally get to see your book or books available for sale, it's a totally rewarding and worthwhile experience. And it's even more rewarding when, surprisingly, some people actually buy it!

So if anyone reading this is just starting to write a book and having second thoughts because it feels like a lot of work, then I would totally recommend paying heed to the wisdom of the saying in this iPhone wallaper...

"The harder the journey, the more rewarding the arrival."

To be able to think to yourself, 'Wow! My book is out there somewhere on people's kindles!' brings a massive smile to your face so the saying is definitely true as a writer, but I'm pretty sure the saying holds true with all goals. So whatever your goal*, if you're ever feeling a bit disheartened and it feels like too much work and effort to achieve your goal, then just remember the inspiration of the dude carrying the massive water tank, and then imagine how chuffed and happy he must have felt when he finally made it to the top of the mountain.

* Disclaimer: Charles Fudgemuffin's encouragement only applies to worthwhile honourable goals. Anyone pursuing an evil goal is excluded from this encouragement.

You can find some earlier wallpapers below:
The karma police are on the lookout...
"I don't speak Japanese."