Peaks and Valleys

by Bo Hayes September 13, 2016

Life is funny. I was originally going to write this blog a few weeks ago when I was actually in a really good season of my life. I had just accomplished something that I've worked for all summer, I was about to start my fifth and final year of college; life was good. Flash forward to the past week and everything seems as if it's taken a 180 degree turn from just a few weeks ago. All of those elated feelings seemed to be gone. Not only did they seem to be gone, but it was like I couldn't even remember what it felt like to have things under control. It seemed hard (thats a light word for how I felt) to even trust the process I was using for the things I was working for. I became more and more stressed, even with ordinary, everyday life. It's funny how that works right? How when the one thing you want or you're working for isn't working out, it effects everything around you and most likely everyone around you by your actions. Anyways, we'll come back to that later.

I was originally going to call this blog 'The Journey > The Trophy' and talk about how much more satisfying it should be when you accomplish something you've worked towards, not because of a trophy or some accolade you gain from it, but more so the journey you went through to get to that point in your life. All of the things you pushed through; how you changed as a person. Actually I should say how the journey changed you as a person. However, I feel like this is more of a relevant topic to write about. My blogs are usually always something directly related to my life. That's what motivates me to write. It's usually because of something recent or some thoughts I've had on my mind lately, so I decide to write about them, hoping maybe just one other person needed to hear it. So because of that and where life is for me right now, I simply don't feel that it would be a sufficient topic for me to write about the original blog idea. Enter 'Peaks and Valleys.'

I'm a big believer in God's timing. There are no mistakes, nothing happens that wasn't supposed to happen. The only reason people think something was a mistake or that it wasn't supposed to happen is because they simply can't see the deeper meaning or fail to realize that there was a reason things turned out the way they did. Things don't happen to you, they happen FOR you. Life has peaks and valleys, ups and downs, high points and low points, whatever you choose to call them, you can't avoid them. I'm sorry, but nobody is going to stay on top of the mountain forever, and nobody is going to sit in the valley forever. This should be good news for people at both ends of the spectrum. If you're at a really solid point in your life, how much are you really going to appreciate it when good things keep coming your way. I know you may say "I always would. I'm always grateful," but the truth is that you're going to start to take things for granted. You become accustomed to things being good and there's nothing wrong with that, it's human nature. We become creatures of habit more easily than we probably care to admit. On the other end, I know that when things are bad it's easy to seem like things won't get better and that you're going to be stuck there forever. But you would also be wrong. Life is an endless cycle. Things will be good, they'll go downhill, things will be bad, they'll start getting better and better, then things will be good again, and repeat. Everyone is obviously different, your cycle will look different than mine. You'll spend different amounts of time in certain seasons of life than I will at some points. But there is a purpose to all of this. Maybe this is you, maybe you need to go from the peak to the valley to remember what you're made of and why you're doing what you're doing. Maybe you're about to go from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs and you don't even know it yet. It could happen tomorrow, it could happen in an hour, ten minutes, before you even finish reading this. How beautiful is the thought of that? That no matter how low you feel, when nothing seems to be going your way, they could completely turn around in an instant?! Everybody will go through hard times in life. Some will be harder than others. However, it always seems that when things are bad for us, they're good for someone around us; or so it would seem. I know I'm guilty of this, you see things going well for other people and start to question why things aren't good for you. But you don't know what that person has been through, how yesterday could have been for them, or what their tomorrow will be like. Just because their life's timing is different than yours doesn't mean their life is any better or more valuable than yours, no matter how things may seem at that moment.

Want a way to get out of the valley quicker? A tip that makes you believe that things are about to get better? FIND A PURPOSE. Find a reason for yourself as to why you're in that season in your life and what you can learn from being there. I promise that you're exactly where you're meant to be at this very moment. God is faithful and His timing is perfect. So find a reason as to why you think you're in whatever situation you're in that you think is so bad. You're there for a reason, so find out what it is. You don't have bad seasons of life. You have LEARNING seasons of life. Times where you grow, change, and become a better you. You'll find out what you're made of if you approach it with this never say die attitude, and then come out on the other side better because of it.

My only tip for those that may be on the mountain right now as they're reading this is simple: stay thankful. You're in a good season in your life right now, it's perfectly fine to enjoy it. That's the point of it. But don't take it for granted, and never look down on those going through the valley right now. You never know when you two will trade places.

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer"-Romans 12:12