What I learned from one documentary film
I’m just heading home from visiting with family out of state and had some time to think and decided to write an article, so here we go. On the plane ride here I watched most of a film titled “Girl Climber” which was about a girl who grew up learning to climb, loved the sport and even took it to the extreme by attempting to summit El Capitan in Yosemite Park, Colorado.
What I noticed about this young woman was not just her discipline of skill, but her sheer focus and strong will to “finish the job” which I believe was born of a strong affinity and desire to rock climb, to follow the sport, and to prove something to herself. She wasn’t in it just because her family wanted her to do it, or because her boss wanted her to do it, but because she had a strong desire to finish strong, deep within herself.
And this is key, the ability to take on difficult jobs, handle storms, and have the endurance to finish strong, needs to come from within ourselves, and if its missing you may find your lacking discipline and motivation to finish. So many people might think its all about changing behavior, but its really about changing desires. Its about finding that strength deep inside that enables us to overcome even in the face of seemingly impossible circumstances.
A lot of people have something about themselves or about what they do that they would like to change. The mistake most people make is assuming they can have one thing without letting go of something else. If you want to lose weight and eat more healthy, you going to need to make conscious choices to change your diet and deny yourself that soda pop with your dinner, that ice cream just before bed. In a way, your whole life needs a make over, not just your waistline.
But when our desires align with what we need rather than what we want we are able to pursue, challenge, and accomplish those goals you’ve always wanted to tackle. Take on that leadership role at work, learn computer programming, regain a healthy lifestyle – Whatever it may be. When desires align with needs, then your life is in balance.
The other part is finding the strength to overcome in the face of difficulty, because difficulty will always come. This strength can only be learned through difficulty, by weathering the storm and coming out the other side. like precious metals that are refined in the fire by intense heat, strength is found in the hottest furnaces.
It may seem unfair that life throws so many curveballs at us, but in the end its really for our good. It may be we were actually designed by God to thrive in difficulty. I often remind myself before or during a shift at work that “I can do ALL things through Christ who gives me strength” (Phil 4:13). It carries more punch when you involve God in the equation than just saying “I can do this!”
In fact I think God is really overlooked when it comes to overcoming difficulty and surviving. In Psalm 18 the Psalmist (Daivd) says “I love your Lord! Your are my strength!” the rest of the passage is a testament to God’s saving power. But the point here is not to forget God when going through difficult circumstance, because he does care for you.
To finish what I was saying before, being able to weather storms and overcome difficulties is crucial to accomplishing any kind of long term goal. But if your motivated and know what you want, and you know where your strength lies, getting there is simply a matter of trusting God and walking that path. Any difficulties are simply learning opportunities along the way.
I’d love to learn rock climbing. I know I’d have to take baby steps to start and just learn on a rock wall, but I’m willing to start there. Its only when you really know what your capable of that you take on an actual rock cliff of any real size. Always start small, and don’t feel bad about it – your being wise. An old friend of mine used to say to me, “Baby steps Timothy, baby steps”. And he was right. So remember to take baby steps.
But go ahead and dream, because dreams can become reality.
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