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Cloudy with a Chance of Serendipity: On Embracing Obstacles 


I don’t like going out. I’m an anxious person, and going out involves all sorts of unexpected snafus that usually heighten my anxiety. The bus could be late. There could be fog. The plane could crash. 


This past weekend, however, I was reminded of the upside of going out and dealing with unexpected obstacles. Here’s what happened.


I spent the weekend with Guy, my partner, at a resort near Lucerne. We had a busy, social weekend, but we had planned a hike, just the two of us, on Sunday. Hiking is our favourite thing to do together. So, we used the weekend to celebrate being married for twenty years. It was the perfect opportunity: we were already in a beautiful mountainous area.


The weather on Saturday was miserable: fog obscured the lovely view of the lake, and it was raining hard. We woke up on Sunday and were already wary about going out. Although the rain had stopped, ominous grey clouds were the only thing breaking the fog around us.  


We went on a foggy walk on Sunday morning. It was a nice hike, but the view was sorely missing.


The view on a foggy Sunday. Photo: author.

We debated. Should we go on the hike we planned? Would it be better to hang out in the hotel and have lunch nearby? We decided we’d go anyway. We had already bought tickets for the funicular, so we thought we might as well go up and see what’s what. 


We arrived at a cable car station in Keirns, and it was clear that something was happening. Lots of people queuing. Although queuing is also one of our favourite activities, being properly British, we sought out an official to ask what was going on. The nice lady said that the funicular wasn’t working today, and we could get a refund for our tickets. We were bummed and also confused because people kept going up with the cable car. We decided to try to ride the cable car. Our tickets worked, so on we drove. 


We went up the cable car and into a cloud, which was cool (a gothic, haunted cable car!) but not so great for view. The cable car ends at Fräkmüntegg, where there’s a lovely chalet and a bunch of activities like ziplining and a giant slide. 


We consulted the lovely man at the info desk, and he looked at our tickets and explained to us that, based on our tickets, we were supposed to go up the funicular (from a different place), but that the funicular was indeed not working because there was ice on the track. But, he said, we can go up anyway on this side and come back down the same way. We debated: that wasn’t why we had come (and we had limited time), but perhaps we might as well count our losses and enjoy a ziplining experience. The entire place was shrouded in clouds, and we thought the top would surely be the same. But the man at the info desk pointed to a screen with a live feed from the top and said it was sunny. We decided to plough on.


The cable car from Fräkmüntegg to the top of the mountain, Pilatus Kulm, is a giant thing that fits about thirty people. We squeezed into the car and hoped for the best. The car started moving into the clouds. After a rather dull five minutes, however, we emerged from the top side of the cloud. 


Over the clouds. Photo: Guy Podjarny

The view was spectacular. By the time we reached Pilatus Kulm, we were excited to explore. We spent an hour at the summit, mostly taking pictures. 

I mean, it's gorgeous. Photo: Guy Podjarny

As I mentioned, I’m doing a year-long course from Head Space. In a classic example of serendipity, only last week, we discussed how obstacles aren’t really obstacles. They are an opportunity to practice our reactions to the obstacles. This is not to say that we need bad things to happen to us. But given that we cannot control the weather or the icing over of tracks, what are we left with? We are left with the way we respond to these obstacles. This weekend’s adventure reminded me that if I keep calm and persevere in the face of obstacles, I am often rewarded for my efforts. 


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