I’m in a valley. I’m currently sitting in my creative room..just got done talking to my homie, God, and I realized that I have hit yet another low moment, or opportunity to grow. It just hit me life is full of peaks and valleys. This truth is not necessarily a bad thing, it just is what it is.
peak-noun| the pointed top of a mountain.
valley– noun| a low area of land between hills or mountains, typically with a river or stream flowing through it.
Testimony:
Last fall/winter time, I was depressed. There I said it! I’m not ashamed. I was alone in a foreign town, I had just broken up with my ex, and I was at a job a loathed. I was unhappy. At the time, my relationship with God was not at its best, so I had to be isolated. I had to have people removed from my life. I had to be sad. I had to be planted. Fast forward to now, I am in a new transition in my life. I just started a new job. I am meeting to friends. Life is okay, but I still find myself disconnected from my work. I feel disconnected from creative work. I feel disconnected from teaching work–I can’t stand being a pawn in a corrupted system, but I digress. I’m tired of black folk dying in the street by the hands of yet another corrupted ass system, but I digress, again. I have even felt disconnected from graduate school work. I find myself hurting over things I cannot control. The past two weeks I’ve been feeling empty and loveless. So, I am in my creative room talking to God and crying trying to figure out what is going on. Then it hits me like a sack of nickels! I am in a new season of growth. Now, the last season, was very difficult. I like to call that the dark hollow space a valley. This new valley, is more so filled with water because this time there is so much going on, I am needed in so many areas that I cannot breathe. Furthermore, I have been hit with failures and set-backs. As a woman whom is used to conquering everything she seeks to achieve, this new idea of success not coming as easily feels like drowning. I’m realizing that I am in a new valley. Still healing old wounds and learning to overcome new obstacles. However, I’m learning a valley is not necessary a bad thing.
Break it down, B:
So here are the money questions: how can God show us who s/he is if we don’t go through anything? How can we be challenged if we are not faced with hurdles? How can we grow if we do not struggle in discomfort? How can we demonstrate our strength if we do not have the opportunity to climb out of a valley up to a peak? (Isiah 40:1) Furthermore, it is a part of human nature to have bad days. It is a part of our journey as human beings to go through trials whether they be mental, physical, spiritual, or situational. It’s cool. Valleys are normal. Valleys are our opportunity to show the world what we are made of. Besides, while we all have this perfect image of our desires and what our lives should be, God has a plan for us to get there. In this new season, I am realizing that God’s plan is rugged, it can get ugly, it can be hard, but his/her plan builds our strength, character, and momentum, so we can be well equipped to do the work we are called to do. In a nutshell, fret not, homes, valleys are normal. We just cannot chill in them because we were meant to ascend to our purpose.
Lastly–I type this for myself and any other willing participants– even though the trees do not know we are in fall, we are still entering a season of decay…a season of beautiful death. It is now time to let go once and for all of the things that hinder flight. As we enter into autumn, try to let go of the burdens that have worn you down, so you can climb the next mountain with a light heart.
Facts:
- God will not give us more than we can bare.
- Struggle builds character.
- We cannot get sexy spiritual bodies, without putting in proper work out hours.
Pay Homage:
“Still I rise.” — Maya Angelou
Salute: Go ahead and throw on your cute hiking boots, we have destinies to reach.
be light. Work your talents. together we can spark a light pandemic.