I hate hard places. We think of them as places of no growth, desolate, dry and where we are all alone. Places where things don’t change and are barren. On a recent hike, I came across this tree growing in a hard place. A place where there is no water, hardly any soil, and exposed to the elements on three sides. And yet there is growth taking place there. Granted, it’s likely slow growth; growth that is taking a long time compared to growth that would happen in more ideal conditions, but there is growth never the less. But how often do we consider the growth happening in the hard places in our lives? And I would say for me, I don’t most of the time because I’m so caught up in the desolate, dry, and loneliness of the hard places I’m in.
In hiking there are the hard places of accidents, missed opportunities, weather events, closed trails, performance set-backs, etc. that can create the hard times in our lives. We tend to focus on the hard place and don’t stop to really look around for the growth that can be taking place. Like the tree growing in the rock. It’s so easy to hike right past and miss the areas of growth and beauty taking place in our own lives on the trail. Like going up the Manitou Incline, we can be so focused on trying to get up it, we don’t pause, stop, turn around to catch a morning sunrise or beauty of being above the clouds.
In our personal lives, we have all gone through this past year of COVID and the hard places it has put us in. Then there are the hard places we create in our lives when we compare our reality to the false expectations, we tend to set on ourselves. We all want the perfect family, holiday times, health, home, friends, etc. and we when don’t have them; we can go down the hole of thinking things aren’t going to get better and thus we see ourselves being stuck in hard places in our life. We think of everything as being bad and hard; so we miss the beauty and growth taking place. Like the slow growth of the tree in the rock; there is growth to be seen when we stop and look for it.
At work, the hardest places for me have been the periods of unemployment. And I let it get worse when I compare myself to others who also are unemployed, because “they seem” to land jobs faster and get the better jobs. I get consumed with the job search and don’t think about anything or anyone else. Growth can take place when I stop to take classes, attend seminars, build my network, explore new opportunities, and use this “extra” time to help others.
We all have and all will experience hard places in our lives. We want them to end and be over with fast; like the 5K race, when we are really in a marathon, or worse (more growth) the Leadville 100-mile race that is between 9,200 to 12,600 feet elevation. Growth in hard places happens when we quiet and stop ourselves to see everything taking place in our lives. And like sharing this picture of growth in a hard place, our growth take place when we allow others to come along side of us to walk with us in our hard places. We are not meant to walk this journey of life alone; especially during the hard places we find ourselves in. Who are you letting take this journey with you?
Al Andersen 