“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favour all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way.”
~ W. H. Murray, The Scottish Himalayan Expedition, 1951
William Hutchison Murray climbed mountains… literally. He was a Scottish mountaineer. His climbing was interrupted by World War II when he joined the military.
A passage in Mountain magazine (#67, 1979) describes the moments after his capture:
To my astonishment, he [the German tank commander] forced a wry smile and asked in English, ‘Aren’t you feeling the cold?’ … I replied ‘cold as a mountain top’. He looked at me, and his eyes brightened. ‘Do you mean – you climb mountains?’ He was a mountaineer. We both relaxed. He stuffed his gun away. After a few quick words – the Alps, Scotland, rock and ice – he could not do enough for me.
During World War II, he spent three years as a prisoner of war with the Gestapo. While imprisoned, he wrote the first version of his book, Mountaineering in Scotland. He used the only paper available to him–rough toilet paper. When it was discovered, confiscated, and destroyed, he simply started writing the book from the beginning.
When you have the resolve to climb mountains, you know there is nothing more powerful in the universe than a decided mind. And so he had decided to write a book.
What do you have the resolve to do? What mountain will you climb?
Join the Online New Year’s Retreat
January 7 – 9, 2022
Dr. Joel Ying and Suzanne Scurlock.
Manifest your New Year’s intention with this powerful online retreat process including storytelling, sacred ceremony, writing a prayer and creating a blessing. Using the Six Wisdom Areas of the body, we are deeply present with our intention and move through the resistance. Release the old resistance and renew your resolve. Create something new in the New Year!
Books by W. H. Murray
