Wednesday, June 26, 2019

The View from the Valley

Life is a series of pits and peaks, ups and downs, highs and lows. It's easy to go from the highest high to the lowest low in a matter of minutes, often forgetting the joy and goodness of the previous season- trading it in for the heartache and hurt of the present instead.


It is so hard not to be jealous of the peaks from the view in the pits. We view others at their best and compare them to us at our worst, and it's easy to let this make us jealous and negative. The woman celebrating her degree - you'll never know the hours she sacrificed, the sleep she lost, or the test she had to re-take three times to pass. Your friend who glows in her recent pregnancy announcement? You don't see the pain she felt every month for a whole year when that second little line didn't show up. That couple sharing the lovey dovey anniversary post that makes you feel even more single? You just don't see the years they waited to find one another, the failed relationships, the counseling, the things they've had to work through.

It's easy to forget the peaks behind us, and feel alone in the midst of our pits, because our society doesn't often share both sides with the world. We don't hop on to post an Instagram photo of us losing our cool with our kiddo or sitting in a long period of waiting, just hoping and praying that a new hill will rise up ahead of us, offering us relief. So it feels like we're the only one walking that path, when in reality there are so many trudging along that same road.


But in those moments, let's remember: celebrating someone else's "peak" with them does not make us any less likely to someday celebrate our own. Nor does it negate the hurt we may feel in our season in the "pit", looking up at the happy moments for others. We can feel both emotions, both pain and joy, at the same time and they can both be valid and real. They are.

So let's choose to build each other up. Let's choose to celebrate and also empathize: to feel joy and pain alongside those we live life with. Let's trust that, even when it seems like we'll be stuck in a valley forever, there is a hill up just ahead- good things waiting for us, better than we could have planned, if only we can hold on, trust just a little bit longer. And then, when we finally reach that peak, there will be people there along with us, celebrating, cheering, crying tears of joy knowing the ups and downs that have been there along the way. Then the valleys will fade as part of a beautiful struggle that led to this incredible end.

Currently,
Kelsie


12 comments:

  1. This is such a beautiful reminder Kelsie. I definitely have been that person in the valley before looking up at my friends in their peaks and wondering "why not me too?" Now there are times when I can see my friends are in valleys and I try to remember how that felt for me and show them extra love and compassion!

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  2. I enjoyed reading your blog post so much! Very inspirational.

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  3. I love this blog post and such wise words. I totally agree it can be tough in the ‘valley’ but life does have it’s up and downs and you can’t see what’s going on in the background sometimes. I hope that I’m supportive to those who need help and know my friends would be there for me too. X

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  4. I love this! Life does have it's ups and downs so it's important to lift each other up when we can.

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  5. Yes!! I love these thoughts so much! It's always so good to be able to celebrate the successes and joys of others.

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  6. You are so right! We can celebrate with others and still be a valley ourselves. Powerful words. Thank you!

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