Happy Friday! Today’s Word of the Day from Dictionary.com is Zenith! It originates from the Arabic “samt (ar-ra’s)” meaning “path (over one’s head)”

As I often do when working with words, consulting a Thesaurus helps me understand the nuances of a word. Here are a few synonyms for the word Zenith: highest point, high point, crowning point, height, top, acme, peak, pinnacle, apex, apogee, crown, crest, summit, climax, culmination, prime, meridian.

I also recently discovered another cool tool in Google that allows me to produce a word translated into various languages. The word Zenith has a variety of interesting translations…in Italian, there are three words: zenit, apice and culmine; in Spanish, cenit, apogeo, cumbre, cima and auge; and my new favorite language, German, zenit and Gipfelpunkt! Wow! Being afraid of heights I get dizzy just thinking about it!

In its various translations and definitions zenith represents the pinnacle, apex or high point. There’s just one problem. Gravity. What goes up eventually reaches the highest high it can go and then, well you know.

I suppose the trick to surviving the zeniths in one’s life is learning to scale the thrilling climb to the top and ultimate plunge as if riding a roller coaster. The track doesn’t end at the bottom. It curves around, reaches a few more pinnacles, and does a loop de loop before settling slowly to a smooth stop, leaving the rider exhilarated and breathless!

I don’t know if I’ve reached the ultimate zenith in my life, but I think it’s more about the journey up and back down. The dizzying view from the pinnacle only lasts for a second!

Here’s the Haiku!

Reaching one’s zenith…
It’s truly a triumph!
But then it’s downhill!

kat ~ 29 January 2016