Written by Abigail Morgan
Standing 1,295 metres up on top of Sugarloaf Mountain, with wind in my face and my eyes fixed on the scene spread out before me, I heard my best friend say “tips down” as she skied by me down a double black diamond.
In the moments before I glided down the hill after her, I took one last look at all the beauty around me, from the snow-packed trees to the vast hills and valleys, and for the first time in what seemed like forever, I was able to breathe in fresh air.
This recent trip to the mountains was intended to remove myself from my busy daily schedule and into something a little less stressful.
While school, work, and daily life can be tiring, my biggest challenge lately has been a battle with God. Sometimes, God does things in our lives that we have a hard time understanding.
Day in and day out, I felt God telling me to step back from a few things, one of them being my relationship with my significant other. I battled this request with God because in my eyes, I saw this individual as my future. I could not grasp why God wanted this for me, because I thought a break-up meant that there is something broken.
I decided to take the leap of faith and do what I thought God wanted me to. As I drove to see my partner that night, I remember freezing up in the car with fear—fear of losing someone I care so much about, fear of having no one to love me, fear of making the wrong decision. Fear is often what gets in the way of our happiness, isn’t it?
I called one of my good friends and mentors in an attempt to calm myself down a little. I will never forget the encouragement she gave me that night as she proclaimed to me exactly what God wanted me to hear: God will take us out of situations to launch us into better ones.
Reflecting on these events, I am now beginning to understand little by little what God is wanting for me in my life. I was putting myself on a journey to find joy, but I was looking in the wrong places. I told myself that when I got a degree, was married, and moved out, then I would be happy and find the joy I’ve been waiting for.
But this is NOT the mindset of the Lord. You see, because God has already placed the joy we need in our hearts. We don’t have to have a mindset of I will be happy when… but rather How will I be joyful today?
I was not enjoying the blessings I had in my life because my mind was set on my future plans. God pulled me out of a situation in my life in order to teach me about seeking true joy and to reveal to me the blessings I already had.
I could go on about the simple blessings in my life that God has revealed to me, from friendships that I had once forgotten about, family time I never seemed to have, hobbies I once loved but have lost in the busyness of life, and time with God I never seemed to prioritize.
When I go running, sit down to write, spend extra time with God, hang out with my girlfriends, sit and enjoy nature, spend time with family, and do little things for myself that make me happy, I feel like I’m breathing in fresh air.
Society has told us to go, go go, and never stop until your life is perfect, with eyes on only the future. If this is your mindset, I am sorry but you will never find true joy; you will always be waiting for something to happen and never be truly satisfied.
Step back, enjoy the view, and take time to listen to what God has to say to you. You will be amazed at the wonderful things our heavenly Father can do in your life. And remember, you can’t satisfy the eternal with the temporal.