Last weekend I finally made my way to upstate South Carolina to hike up Table Rock in the Blue Ridge mountains with my sister and some of her friends. I'm not quite sure how I've lived in South Carolina my entire life without making the hike, but we couldn't have chosen a more perfect day.
The hike up the mountain is a 3.6 mile trail. When the official website names the trail "strenuous" it is not an exaggeration. While I enjoyed the challenge, this trail wasn't an easy feat. After the first mile of treading uphill I could feel myself breathing heavier than I had anticipated. For years I've heard people rave about the views that could only be seen standing triumphantly atop Table Rock. I trusted that climbing the stairs of rocks up this mountain would lead me to something beautiful, and happily obliged.
After over two hours of climbing, we stood on top of Table Rock and look down beyond the trees and clouds. The infinite natural beauty visible at this height was incredible, and so worth the hike.
I had to trust the process to get to the beautiful ending.
And for some reason this concept is so tough to grasp in the larger areas of our lives. It's harder to trust the process when there is no concrete ending or light at the end of the tunnel. It's harder to trust the process when it seems like everyone around you is already achieving their dreams.
I think sometimes the hardest part is finding where we want to go. We have to ask ourselves exactly what we wish to achieve before we can find our path to get there and experience the journey. But how are we supposed to just...trust the process? How do we really know that it will all work out how it's supposed to work out?
Naturally, have to start from the bottom and work upwards. We have to define the foundation before we can build. We have to take the first upward step to climb the trail to reach the top of the mountain. We need to find our stable rock.
I have found the most peace in my faith - and in John 16:33, "...in this world you will have trouble; but take heart! I have overcome the world." This has been my personal rock throughout the numerous adventures and endeavors that life brings. The consistency that follows is the reason I feel that I can trust the process and take whatever life throws my way.
Over the past few years, I've moved a couple times, attended college, bought a car, held multiple jobs and created new relationships. I've flown to new cities, sipped coffee at cute little shops, ran aimlessly down the streets with my best friends and sung Christmas carols on a train. I've also left college, lost a few friendships and said good-bye to people I never would have wished to leave. I've experienced joy, pain, happiness, fear, bitterness, peace, anger and grace. Recently, it seems like life has become a wild roller coaster that I sometimes wish I wasn't riding.
I've come to terms that this is the beauty of it all. The journey is exhilarating and the sooner you make the decision to embrace the craziness, lack of direction and unmarked path the more you lean on your stable Rock, the more you trust the process, the more you are able to truly live.
