05/23/2025
⛩️Welcome to Fushimi Inari Taisha - the shrine famous for its 10,000 red tori gates leading up the moutain. ⛩️
🧑🤝🧑When you first begin this trek, it will be crowded with hundreds, if not thousands, of eager indiviudals looking for that iconic picture of the gates. If you try and take a photo here, you're guaranteed to compete for a photo without someone else in it.
🗻But as you make your way to the top, you'll begin to notice less people. At the halfway point, you'll hear others looking at the map seeing how far they have left to go saying, "There's no way we can keep going" or "We only have X amount of daylight left."
🦟You keep going, invigorated by the sign that says only 20 minutes to the top (don't believe that sign). It will start to get dark, the mosquitoes will come out in droves, and every turn you'll wonder if it's the last flight of stairs up. But you keep on going, uncomfortable, tired and bitten by bugs.
🏯When you reach the top, instead of a view over the city, you arrive at a sacred place where those who made it have placed their prayers and hopes in the form of plaques or even a small red tori gate of their own.
💼It made me think of my journey of being a small business owner. You start off excited and fresh along with many others. As you continue, you encounter those who give up or fail and you think of joining them as you begin to see how long and challenging the road is ahead.
⛩️That final stretch seems to go on for miles and it gets lonely as more people quit and fall off. But when you make it to that summit, you'll meet other kindred souls who encourage you for having made it.
💡Each step of your journey to being a business owner makes you stronger, more determined. Even when the road gets long and lonely, keep on trekking because it is well worth the challenge.
💖When I finally made it to the top, and even back down the mountain, I was proud of what I did and that was the reward in of itself.
What are you most proud of in your work or life? Share below and let's encourage each other to keep on hiking up the mountain.