Have you ever felt overwhelmed by life’s pressures?
A unique experience years ago taught me valuable lessons in how to overcome challenges.
The Waterfall
While on a college study abroad program to the Philippines, our group was taken to a beautiful swimming hole in the rain forest.
It was absolutely gorgeous!
The water was crystal clear and at one end there fell a beautiful waterfall.
We swam around to a cave behind the waterfall and were invited to climb aboard a raft and pull ourselves through the falling water.
Looking back now I wonder who thought this was a good idea?!
Water is powerful.
The force is tremendous!
It was fun until the crushing weight of the water pounded over my head and back and almost pinned me to the raft!
I gasped as the wind was knocked out of me and I struggled for breath.
Those few seconds seemed to last forever!
With immense relief we came out the other side, and I could once again breathe deeply and recover.
Life’s Experiences
You may not have experienced an actual waterfall pounding over you, but you most likely have had life experiences that have felt similar.
At times, challenges may threaten to overcome us, making it hard to breath, struggling to find relief.
We may feel as if we are drowning and that the situation will never end.
And yet, they do.
I learned a couple of lessons that day that have served me well.
Lessons of the Waterfall
-Hold on.
When the shock of the water first hit I loosened my grip on the rope and came close to being washed off the raft and directly under the waterfall.
-Keep pulling.
As the force of the water overwhelmed me, I stopped pulling on the rope. Those precious few seconds of not pulling kept me under that force longer than need be.
Instead of getting through more quickly, I had let fear almost overtake me and delay coming through to the other side.
A bonus lesson is that I learned that we have more strength and ability than we may think we do.
I encourage you to learn from my experience of the waterfall.
Hold fast, keep trying, and trust you will come through to the other side.
And you will.
Much love,
