How Steep Are the Mountains You Face? That Depends.

This valuable little tidbit comes from research done at the University of Virginia. Read it again and consider its implications.

If a physical mountain appears less daunting when viewing it with a friend, imagine what happens to mental, emotional, or spiritual "mountains" when we face them with loved ones rather than by ourselves.

What mountains do you face right now? Who is standing at your side?

If your first thought is, "No one. I have no one standing with me," I invite you to look again. Look harder. In my experience, every single time I've felt alone, when I've made the effort to really look, I've always found someone there - loving me and willing to support me, whether I've felt like I deserved it or not. There may be moments when the only one you feel you can trust to be there for you is your God. Even if you can't bring yourself to believe it, God is always there, willing to face every mountain with you. You are not alone.

There are people in your life who can help and want to help the terrain look less daunting. They may not be the people you hoped or thought or expected to be there, but you have people there. Some are with you for a lifetime, some for a moment.

If you already know you have friends with you, I invite you to ponder their impact and influence on you. How do they affect your perception? And how do you affect their perception of the challenges they face?

The quote above states that our perception is changed by including others in our achievements - which is true. Let's not limit that to just our achievements, though. It applies to our rough spots, our hard things, our messy patches, too. It's not just the moments of glory, the moments of achievement, that are impacted by companionship. The joyful times and the sad times, the breezy parts and the exhausting parts, the simple moments and the complicated moments, the thrilling bits and the mundane bits - all the bits of our lives are changed by the people we hold close.

Friends, I think you already know this, but life's challenges are less daunting when we face them together. Let's take time to notice and appreciate those whose presence makes our life feel a bit easier, our burdens feel a bit lighter. And let's do our best to that kind of person, too.