The Valley…
I have become familiar with the valley, but I no longer fear it. I will never be comfortable with the valley, but I am now comfortable in the process the valley comes with. For so long I was comfortable with the valley, but not comfortable with the process.
It never dawned on me that I was comfortable in the valley because it was normal. I was a stubborn person growing up or let’s say I learned things the hard way. Yep, I was that kid from an early age. Growing up my dad was working for an engineering company in Carson, CA and he would always bring home these cool looking “toys”. They were actual prototypes of designs, but toys to me. I would grab them and begin to take them apart and put them back together again. See, I wasn’t allowed to touch them, but I just had to know how it worked. My dad and I had many encounters of him asking why I have to keep taking everything apart, all the while I stand there and shrug my shoulders. I was curious and fascinated by the designs. I didn’t mind staying in the valley learning something new, but it just stopped there.
Sometimes we find ourselves in the valley and we are working on something new. We are curious and just taking everything apart and putting it all back together again, and we repeat this process a few times. We begin to fall in love with the process of re-building while in the valley. But at some point, do we not want to get out of the valley? As much fascination I had with my dad’s prototypes I never asked the right questions to get a better understanding of how things worked. I never took the next step to lead me out of the valley to learn and apply mechanical engineering. To be honest I wasn’t comfortable with the process that led me out of the valley.
When you begin to appreciate and value the valley it will return the favor. Being in an area where you might be learning right now you must remember to also apply action. Coming out of the valley is easy when you apply the lessons you are learning. Don’t become comfortable in the valley, but comfortable in the process that leads you out. Plant your roots in the process as it requires both action and rest. The process asks for you to listen and learn, and then apply action and repeat the process again.
I no longer fear the valley as I am no longer comfortable in it. I no longer long for its covering of loneliness as I rest and lean back in the process enjoying the ride as my roots keep me upright. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
