Small Steps for Super Sayaka

By: Sayaka Shiraishi

Follow Sayaka Shiraishi’s journey as she confronts inner conflict and resolves to climb Mount Kilimanjaro to gain and develop meaningful life experiences. Each small step she takes towards the summit is another step closer to a crucial realization she has about her search for life knowledge. As it turns out, life is quite similar to climbing a mountain. Below is Sayaka’s story of struggle, strength, and enlightenment.

I challenged myself to climb Kilimanjaro back in my high school time, a time when I was not aware of who I was. This was a time when I had always tried to achieve my goals by using shortcuts or over-relying on someone. When I found out about the Kilimanjaro journey, I sprinted through the school hallway like a school marathon winner and signed up for the journey even though I did not even know what kind of skill I was going to obtain from climbing Kilimanjaro. However, I knew my goal for this journey was reaching the summit, and nothing else. 

The first day of this journey began in a rainforest in the cold weather. I am tired of walking a long pathway on a mud! I just want to achieve as soon as possible! I screamed in my head, but I still walked while looking up at the sky trying to see the summit. In Kilimanjaro, there were five different stages, and it was roughly divided into a rainforest area, a rock-strewn slope, a desert area, rock rock-climbing area, and a bumpy area. By moving on to the next areas, I suddenly noticed that this is just like the world of Super Mario. This is a video game, in which you must move into the next world with different environments by completing obstacle races to achieve the goal of saving the princess. Meanwhile, I realized how I used to level up in the game by focusing and reflecting on my actions in each race. Maybe what I did in Super Mario could help me to become who I want to be in the real world, I thought. 

At this moment, I felt like I found the answer to my reliance on shortcuts and other people. Focusing on what is in front of me and pay attention to what I can do now rather than seeking a shortcut or desiring to achieve goals quickly. That was the time when I started facing what was in front of me in each moment in Kilimanjaro and paying attention to little things throughout the journey. I even found out the preciousness of what I was seeing in the moment. A beauty of the pathway in the pump area, A shadow of small flowers, and the freedom we have got for walking in nature…. “Why do I feel so happy even though I am moving slowly towards the summit?” I asked myself. I kept climbing towards the summit with this question on my mind. The moment I reached the summit, I became certain of the value of small steps. I understood that the realization within small steps enriched my view of things and taught me how to deal with challenges. I deeply acknowledged the power of the small steps. From there on, I relate to Super Mario by facing challenges step by step because you can only move to that next level by finishing each race in both the game and life. Acquiring knowledge from a small step is just like obtaining the mushroom in each race of Super Mario. Now, I would like to invite you to your own Super Mario World!!