If you want to really see what someone has achieved, gaze below the sea

Mount Everest is the highest point on Earth. This is more or less indisputable. However, it is not necessarily the tallest mountain because that depends on your definition.

Certainly, if you measure the distance from sea level to the top, Mount Everest is indeed the tallest, standing at 8,850 meters or 29,035 feet.

But if we choose to measure the total elevation, even including the part that is underwater, the tallest mountain in the world is Mauna Kea in the Hawaiian archipelago. From sea level, it is only about 14,000 feet tall, but if we measure from the point where it rises directly from the seafloor, it is 32,696 feet in all.

Sometimes, I wonder if the way we talk about Mount Everest and Mauna Kea inadvertently carries over to the way we think about people, too. Often, we can only see the titles and the achievements on the surface. Therefore, it is easy to assume that everyone started from the same place, and that those with the most visible peaks have done the most. And in some cases, that may be true.

But perhaps we should try to be the types of people who can appreciate the stupendousness of Mauna Kea. We should try to gaze below the sea level, though the water hiding our pasts can be murky and mysterious at times, recognizing that all individuals begin their climb from different starting places.

Some may not get to reach the top of Mount Everest; however, they may have climbed higher than that in total.

They may not seem the tallest, but they, in fact, may be.

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Jason J. Han (@JasonHanMD) is a cardiac surgery resident in Philadelphia and is part of the TMS leadership.

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The opinions expressed in the article is not affiliated with any institution, company or product. The article should not be interpreted as medical advice.