A Hill Too Far 遥远的山

Last week I was having breakfast with three new friends in Beirut 贝鲁 bèilǔ . We were among sixteen strangers from diverse backgrounds but there in Lebanon 黎巴嫩 Líbānèn for the same reason. One of the girls was wearing a Mount Kinabalu T-shirt. She confirmed that she had climbed that hill leading me to lament that it was “A Hill Too Far” 遥远的山 yáoyuǎn deshān for me because it reminded me of the epic World War II film “A Bridge Too Far” 遥远的桥 yáoyuǎn deqiáo. where the Allied forces failed in an attempt to break through the German line by capturing a bridge too far.

There had been several occasions when I planned to climb Mt. Kinabalu but each time, something came up to disrupt my plan. They said I could still climb it but somehow I felt that I’m not fated (没有缘 méiyǒuyuán) to do so.

So I’ll climb other hills and give this a miss for the time being for as the song sings “Que Sera Sera, whatever will be will be. The future is not ours to see, what will be, will be”. Whatever is yours will be yours eventually.

命里有时终须有 mìnglǐ yǒushí zhōng xūyǒu
命里无时莫强求 mìnglǐ wúshí mò qiǎngqiú

It is not that this hill is unreachable 遥不可及 yáobùkějí. I just do not want to feel that I’m compelled to climb it which is what it will feel like if I force myself. Maybe one fine day, I’ll feel like it is the right time to climb that hill and I will. Meanwhile, I will live with the romance of a distant unattainable hill.

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