Give It Up

Independence. It’s a core value, even the core value, to many. It’s especially close to the hearts of those under the age of 30. It’s my life, my decisions, my goals, my body, my wants, my needs. You can’t tell me what I should or shouldn’t do. And, maybe more than any of these, it’s my future, and my plan of how to get there. Many hold their internal concept and vison of the future so closely that they’d sacrifice nearly everything else to keep it.

The flaw in this is that the one who initiates a plan is responsible for executing the plan. If it’s my plan, I’m the one who has to make sure that it works. I’ve planned minor things, like roadtrips with friends or youth events at church. Even in these relatively small, stress-free settings, there’s a weight to being the one responsible for making sure that it works out.

When you’re the one setting the course of your entire life, by yourself, in your strength, by your wisdom, you’ve put yourself under a lot of pressure. There are a lot of variables in life; things that even if you do everything in your power according to plan; accomplishing every goal, making every decision, forming the right connections, can still go wrong.

Honestly, there are a scary number of things are out of your control. Totally out of your control. Health. Sure, you can work out and eat healthy, but you can’t guarantee your own health, nor how long you’ll be alive. Opportunity. You can work hard and excel, but you can’t force opportunities to appear out of nowhere. Money. You can grind and budget well, but you can’t be assured that you’ll always have the capital or financial flexibiblity to take a needed risk, nor can you predict an unforseen, major expense. If it’s all on you, that’s a lot of pressure.

In fact, I’d propose that it’s too much pressure. That, in reality, you weren’t designed with enough strength to handle that much weight. And that if you are currently trying to live with that much weight on your shoulders, it actually makes sense if you’re tired. Anxious. Worn out. Stressed out. Maybe even defeated. Hopeless. Depressed.

An individual’s inability to bear a given weight doesn’t necessarily mean that individual is a weak person. If someone tried and failed to carry a 1,000 pound refrigerator over their shoulders, the inference wouldn’t be that the person was defective…