I feel so incredibly blessed to say I seriously had the time of my life in high school... Along with this "best time of my life" came a lot of ups and downs. Feelings such as stress, worry, and anxiety were present but feelings such as happiness and excitement came along with. Through my high school experience I met the most amazing and probably best friends ever. I would not trade my experiences with these people for the world. While I sometimes doubted myself, I grew in so many ways (except vertically) good and bad to learn so much about myself and my faith.
Society places so much emphasis and importance on focusing on "the BIG next step" in life, for me college/the future -which society seems to do with every season of life almost. I realize how important it is to progress and grow, but truly if we don't take the time to meditate and think about how we grew and what we learned during our growth- did we really even grow at all?
My first thought about blogging about high school was along the lines of "don't stress about prom, don't do this, don't do that, do this, do that... So on..." But then I really thought harder and realized... Heck, you are going to stress about prom and grades and the SAT and all the new obstacles and situations high school brings. You are going to laugh so hard you will cry and you will cry so hard... You will later laugh at yourself. It's natural to feel all of these emotions, and you WILL - that's the beauty of high school.
So with all of these realizations I came to the conclusion that high school is truly about the JOURNEY. Of course the destination (graduation, college, future, job..) is SO important... But by searching for so much joy in ONLY the destination... It is SO easy to forget to "find joy in the journey." So easily we search for acceptance from peers, adults, colleges, etc.. That in turn we also easily forget to learn to accept ourselves for the truly extraordinary beings God uniquely created us ALL to be. We tend to resent the a awkwardness of growing up and change - it's only looking back that I can realize the beauty of my high school journey.
"Find joy in the journey" is truly a phrase I coined from my friends who hiked in Colorado this summer with Younglife's Wilderness program this summer. The "goal" or "destination" of this trip is to reach the peak elevation, but due to bad weather, my friends did not "peak"- but they truly relied on God and each other and they found joy in their journey... Realizing they truly did "peak" in so many other ways - despite any disappointment or unexpected destination.
This scenario translates so easily to high school. It is so easy to get caught up in getting the best grades (to get in to college), getting the best test scores (to get into college), and ultimately wishing away high school because you "just can't wait until college." We all find ourselves caught in a trap of being caught in blinders so focused on the destination/end result/next stage of life- that we lose sight of the beautiful and messy journey God takes us along to get to our "temporary destinations" in life that truly mean nothing on the scale of His final destination for us.. And I do not intend to be preachy, but as I have had this entire summer of transition from one amazing chapter of my life to one that is completely foreign and unknown I have come to these conclusions of my own- regardless of what you believe you can find joy in your present journey without succumbing to the urgency of future endeavors. I am sure now more than ever, EVERYTHING happens for reason - an God's plan is way greater than mine.
To anyone going into/in High School:
1) Find joy in YOUR journey
Not your parents', not your friends, YOURS
2) Don't let the fear/overwhelming urgency of the future stop you from living in the present
3) HAVE FUN- you literally have 4 years of the most fun freedom with minimal responsibilities
4) Relax: You. Will. Be. Ok.
God's plan for you is SO MUCH bigger and better than any plan you can conceive in your mind whether that's college, or a job, or just any picture of the future we uselessly try to paint for ourselves
5) Take pictures
It is sometimes difficult to remember your journey if you don't take pictures along the way... I am the worst about remembering to take pictures, so don't be that way. Take some pics.
6) Take these verses with you:
Joshua 1:9
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."
[my personal favorite of all time]
Matthew 6:34
"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
I certainly hope that I will be able to follow my own blogging advice and carry this mindset into the next new, scary, foreign, but mostly exciting chapter of my life in college.
But if not, I am certain that God will be with me and constantly remind me to find joy in ANY journey life takes me on & find peace that He will lead my journey in life to a greater destination than I could ever imagine for myself.
