Today, I want to talk to you about letting go of control. In this case, I mean in every aspect of yourself. When one lets go of control in one category, it tends to lead to letting go in another. Having spent the month of February in Nepal, I had many experiences that didn’t necessarily allow me to let go, but rather forced me to so many times, that near the end of the journey, it became habit. Along with this habit, came the habit of trusting the superiors around me, both my contact and God, wholly and completely. Now let’s begin.
Lesson 1: The Realm of “Not knowing”
In Nepal, it is cultural to tell you what you want to hear when a question is asked. It is not considered lying, but is rather looked at as being courteous. For example, I may ask, “How long will it take to get to the village?” The actual answer would be 8-9 hours, but the answer that I would get is 3-4. I quickly, along with the help of my wonderful teammates, was able to develop a formula to help decipher such answers. You take the number that was said to you and you double it and add 1 (2 x ? + 1 = Real Answer). As we began to use this formula to conclude accurate ETAs for ourselves, my sudden realization that I was using algebra in a real life situation made me want to cry (out of sadness that I had to use it again as I had vowed that I never would after my last math class).
Lesson 2: Inapplicable Questions
As we began our trek into the mountain villages with the pastor and our translator, I had questions for them. It seemed normal for me to be curious about general things that had to do with our journey. Questions like: Where are we going? What are we doing today? What time are we leaving? When are we getting there? Will we need to bring anything? Do we need to prepare ourselves for something specific? and others, are not applicable in day to day conversation while trekking in Nepal. It was never confirmed whether or not they just didn’t know the answers or if they just did not feel like answering them, but I was always left wondering. These situations, at first, frustrated me. I thought these were basic questions to answer, but they apparently were not. I learned to just do what I was told, and that was usually 5 minutes before I had to do it. This caused me to think on my toes, to make snap evaluations of situations, and to step up and do things that I might not have done if I had any sort of warning. For example, on my birthday, i preached the message at church in front of over 100 people with 30 minutes of prep time because we had no prior warning and no one else wanted to do it. I don’t think I would have volunteered if I didn’t have to, for getting up in front of people I don’t know and speaking is not one of my gifts.
Lesson 3: Becoming a Maximum “Go-with-the-flow” Human
Seriously, put me in any situation and I am cool with it. Tell me what we are doing (seriously anything at all), and it sounds like a great idea to me. This mentality is produced from sheer lack of knowledge, and can be applicable to any and all situations. You can try this at home. This exercise would consist of going up to anyone and doing what they are doing, no matter what it is, repeatedly. Eventually you would be cool with any activity, or lack thereof, that happens. Unfortunately, this may backfire and completely dissipate your ability to make a decision on even the smallest things. Someone could ask you, “Where do you want to go to eat?” and you may suddenly find yourself completely overwhelmed by the possibility of choosing yourself and instead go with the answer, “Anywhere you want to go is cool with me.” There is a fine line and it is a hard line to find. Good luck.
Lesson 4: If You Pray for Patience…..just don’t
Have you ever heard the saying, “If you pray for patience, God will bring along situations in order to test and deepen you patience,”? Well, it’s true. I would not have considered myself a patient person before the race. As time has gone on, my grace towards people has grown, which has allowed me to be more patient in general. However, Nepal made me into a woman who is almost as patient as my mother (and that’s saying something). I am grateful for this ever-growing quality within myself, however, it does not come without it’s fair share of hardships. If you do decide to pray for patience, prepare yourself for situations that frustrate you because it is not something that magically starts growing within you. It takes work.
Lesson 5: Growing Pains are Painful
That goes without saying, right? But here is the thing with those pains, I am, in fact, growing. These lessons may seem sarcastic (ok, they are sarcastic, but hey, it’s me writing it), but I did learn to trust in the Pastor and whatever he had planned for us and to trust in the Lord in what He had for us through our time with our contacts. There were situations that were painful to deal with, but overall, Nepal has been one of my favorite months. Although I did go through things that I didn’t expect, the process helped to round me out as a person. I got to hike through the highest mountain range in the whole world, I got to stand beside my friends on peaks looking out over what we had just accomplished. I got to see growth in my team, in myself, and in my relationship with God.
Things don’t always go as planned, but I learned how to choose joy and to embrace the unknown in Nepal. It was hard, but you don’t usually grow from things that are easy, right? You get stronger from pushing through the hard things and coming out the other side. And if you ever get the chance to ride on top of a bus as it drives along narrow dirt roads through mountains don’t think about it, just do it.
“I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13
