I made it!
I write this post sitting at my desk in my dorm down at BYU. Hard to believe this time has actually come! Ever since the age change for missionary service was announced 7 years ago, I knew that January 2020 would most likely mark the beginning of my years as a college student – and for about that long, I knew it would be BYU. And here I am! It’s surreal and ridiculously exciting as I consider what my future holds.
I went to freshman orientation yesterday – basically just a day full of information and touring the massive campus. Very long, but I’m sure all worth it. I’m continually impressed at the amount of opportunities and pathways present here. Any class I could ever imagine seems to be offered! Very few things excite me more than opportunities to learn from professors. Life is gonna be good for sure.
With these academic and social opportunities come equally as many pathways and choices. While the opportunities excite me, the choices present with them sends a few fears my way.
And while the future is bright, it’s also unknown.
Maybe you could say it’s so bright it’s blinding? What a confident thing to say! Maybe it’s just bright because it’s at the end of a long tunnel of darkness? That one is a bit pessimistic. Maybe it’s around a corner, where light can clearly be seen around the bend, but the source is unseen? I like that one. It is not an unknown source per se, for my faith and trust in God tells me that He is behind my bright future. But what that light illuminates around the corner – namely, my future – is, in all its specifics, unknown.
My point is, I am currently “venturing” in faith towards a bright future, having left the “stability” of my humble home life in Layton in order to find it. Were I to be a bit more dramatic, I would say I’m like Bilbo Baggins “going on an adventure” to find what is to be found.
And no, I didn't just think of him because I'm listening to Shire music right now.
(If you don't listen to Lord of the Rings music, I highly recommend you do)
You could call it a stretch to compare myself to Bilbo – or a shrink, because he’s a hobbit – but Elder Uchtdorf already compared us ALL to Bilbo, so I feel justified.
Indeed, Elder Uchtdorf’s talk (found by clicking the picture to the left) highlights a few points about hobbits and us that I would like to re-emphasize.
It seems our life is divided into sections or periods – “stability” or “venturing”.
Times of stability are times of relative comfort and ease. They are times when you know what you are doing and why you are doing it. Your relationships with others are sound and simple and your income and assets seem to be in good order. They are, of course, stable times. You aren’t shrinking, but you aren’t really growing – thus the “stability”.
Times of “venturing” are the opposite. They are times when you don’t necessarily know what you are doing or even why you are doing it. They are times of faith and often trial. They require you to stretch in ways you usually don’t want to do. You are constantly meeting new people, doing new things, acquiring new possessions or finding new jobs. You have a goal in mind and even a path to get there, but it is unpaved and at times unexpected.
But most importantly, you are growing!
My mission was a major venture for me – at first. It required enormous steps of faith and put me in a seemingly infinite number of uncomfortable and unfamiliar situations. My time in the MTC and then at least the first year thereafter were venturing periods. But then, as I got used to life as a missionary, it became a bit more stable. I had to continuously find new ways to challenge and extend myself. Sometimes this happened unexpectedly – a companion losing a brother, a friend requesting we stop teaching them, a transfer to a new area – and sometimes I had to do it myself by working harder or trying to work smarter. It was a constant switching of feeling stable and venturing.
Back in 2014, I participated in a challenge course at a youth conference I attended with my ward. A series of tree stumps sat in a pattern for about 30 feet. We had to stand on the starting stump and, using 2x4s of wood, move from stump to stump until we reached the end. All 2x4s were different lengths and could only reach certain stumps. It was not only a mental challenge, but also physically difficult to balance and reach each stump without falling.
For some reason, this challenge really affected my 15-year old self and changed my perspective on life. I thought of stumps as times of “stability”, where life is good and things are balanced. The 2x4s represented times of “venturing”, where the world was dangerous, unexpected, and wobbly. However, it was obvious that too much time on a stump got you nowhere. You HAD to venture!
But eventually, each venture led to a stable stump.
Nothing uncomfortable and hard is uncomfortable and hard forever.
“That which we persist in doing becomes easier, not that the nature of the task has changed, but our ability to do has increased.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
My life as a missionary was a venture but eventually became more stable.
I’m sure Bilbo’s life as an adventurer with the dwarves became more stable.
And I know my life in college will soon become more stable.
And when it does, more challenges and pathways will give me more opportunities to venture to the next stump.
Sister Runia used to always teach us that,
“There is no comfort in the growth zone, but there is no growth in the comfort zone”.
In a small way, we venture every day – every time we meet someone new, do something we haven’t done before, go somewhere we haven’t been, etc. – but where are we in a big way?
Are we stretching ourselves enough that we are growing mentally, emotionally and spiritually - i.e., as a human being?
If not, what makes you uncomfortable, nervous, or scared? Maybe go and do that thing. You might get a bloody nose (snowboarding), but you'll be stronger because of it.
Are you stretched beyond what you can bear?
If so, what gives you stability in life? For me, it’s my love for and from my family, a connection to God, and a love for sports and music. What can you let go of to have more of those stable things in your life?
Let us all be willing to, at times, forego the “comforts of a hobbit’s life” and “go on an adventure”! By so doing, we will find even more comfort and joy – eventually. We are here to be stretched. It’s part of life’s adventure. And eternal joy is our end reward.
Now, to close with Elder Uchtdorf:
“Come and see what this marvelous, wondrous, and adventurous journey is all about.
Along the way you will discover yourself.
You will discover meaning.
You will discover God.
You will discover the most adventurous and glorious journey of your life.”
Let’s embrace it.
Adam Simpson
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