Ghia—Have you ever wondered why people use the word Journey to describe life? Perhaps it’s because during a journey we’re always moving both physically, emotionally, and spiritually — evolving as we go.

Hooray, GIA here.

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I'm this week's host of the Creative

Spiritual Journey podcast where Judy and I

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talk about those things that bring us joy.

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For me, I find joy by connecting

with nature, connecting with Jesus

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Christ and our heavenly parents.

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Seasonal living, and all the bits of magic

and wonder I come across while navigating

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this remarkable journey we call life.

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Did you hear those last

few words of my intro?

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I mentioned the Remarkable

Journey of Life.

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Today, I want to share my thoughts about

those words, the remarkable Journey.

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I used the word remarkable

here deliberately.

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It would've been easy to say,

wonderful journey of life, or

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amazing journey of life, but those

words didn't sound right to me.

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Life can be wonderful and amazing.

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But it isn't all the time.

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Sometimes it's downright horrible.

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I pick the word remarkable

because it has a ton of synonyms.

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Synonyms, like extraordinary,

outstanding, striking, dramatic, distinct.

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Those are all great.

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But then there are also synonyms, like

bizarre, odd, curious, crazy and weird.

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I don't know about you, but

now we are describing the life.

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I know it encompasses all of these words,

and more thus, I find life remarkable.

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Now, how about this word journey?

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Why did I put this word in my intro and

why did Judy and I put it in the title of

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our name, the creative spiritual journey?

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Honestly, for me at least, I like using

the word journey because it sounds

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mythical and poetic, maybe even enchanted.

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I like it because it

implies movement and growth.

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Life isn't static.

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Saying it's a journey acknowledges that we

are always moving physically, emotionally,

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and spiritually evolving as we go.

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It implies transformation and alchemy.

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To me, the word journey

also invites adventure.

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A sense of excitement and possibility.

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It sparks curiosity and a

willingness to embrace the unknown.

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Now for the last few years since

Judy and I started the Creative

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Spiritual Journey project, I have been

marking what I call journey language.

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When I read the conference talks,

and believe it or not, I have found

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a ton of journey language quotes

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Here is one of my favorite.

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This is from Elder Ballard.

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He said,

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My great grandparents and other

early pioneers faced many obstacles

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as they came by wagon handcar and

walking to the Salt Lake Valley.

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We too face challenges in our

individual journeys through our lives.

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We are not pushing can carts or

driving covered wagons over steep

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mountains and through deep snow drifts.

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We are trying, as they did to

spiritually overcome the temptations

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and challenges of our day.

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We have trails to walk, we have hills

and sometimes mountains to climb.

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Although the trails today are

different than those of the early

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pioneers, they are no less challenging.

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End quote.

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So there it is.

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This life is a journey.

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I think we use this word journey

because a journey is something deeper,

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more personal than say just a trip.

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A trip is usually short and

focused on a destination like

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a vacation or a quick visit.

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A journey on the other hand, takes

time and it changes us along the way.

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A journey is shaped by experiences,

both the joyful and the difficult,

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and it involves choices.

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We decide which paths to

take, which direction to go.

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At the crossroads, sometimes we get lost.

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Sometimes we discover unexpected trails,

which describes life, don't you think?

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Life is full of decisions

that shape who we become.

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A journey includes obstacles,

setbacks and detours, but also growth.

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The challenges we face teach

us resilience and wisdom.

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And just like any great journey, life

brings moments of wonder and discovery.

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We marvel, we connect, we find

meaning in places we didn't expect.

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But maybe the most important

thing about a journey is this.

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It isn't how we travel or how far we go,

it's about who we become along the way.

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I love this idea of

becoming, who am I becoming?

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I wonder this all the time.

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And here is the lawyer esque way

that DH Oaks puts this concept.

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He says, the final judgment is

not just an evaluation of the

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sum total of good and evil acts.

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What we do, it is an acknowledgement of

the final effect of our acts and thoughts.

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What we have become.

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to me this means that it isn't about

if I exercise every morning or even

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if I say my prayers every morning.

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These are both good things, but it's

about how these things change me.

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That's why Judy and I named this

podcast The Creative Spiritual

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Journey, because we wanted to focus

on change, I don't just want to

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let those changes happen by chance.

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I want to be a part of the process.

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I mean, life is going to

happen no matter what I do.

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Either way, I'm going to have experiences

that change me, but if I am an active

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participant, I get to influence

at least some of those changes.

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So as part of this episode, I thought I

would share some of the lessons I have

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recently learned on my journey of life.

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This last August, I spent 15 days

backpacking with my fabulous man.

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My number one goal was to do as much

as possible an epic mountain adventure.

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I wanted lots of miles.

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I wanted to camp above tree line.

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I wanted layover days where we

didn't need to move the tent.

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I wanted to be in the mountains

for as long as possible.

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But given that I am not as young as I

used to be and that the longer we were

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in the mountains, the more food here

weight we had to carry, we needed to put

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some limits on the mileage we would be

doing each day and all that was great.

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I was happy with our plan until.

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We got out there and you know

what happened out on the trail?

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We crossed paths with through hikers.

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These are people who are hiking from

Canada to Mexico in one season and they

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are easily hiking 15 to 25 miles a day,

and they are doing it fast and light.

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They carry absolutely no extra gear,

so their packs are really small.

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So, you know what I did?

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Every time I saw one of those

hikers, I, number one got embarrassed

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because my pack was so big.

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And number two got envious

because I wanted to be able

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to move as fast as they were.

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Uh, the journey.

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Can you see my life lesson here?

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I had to keep reminding myself.

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I wasn't out there for

the same reason they were.

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We planned on doing in 15 days

what they were doing in six, and

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that meant I got to see more.

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I was the one that got to sit and watch

the mirror-like reflection in the lake,

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and I got to watch the Otter catch a fish.

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Those people were having fun

putting on their miles, but I

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was doing something different.

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I was deliberately taking it slow still.

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I wanted to tell every through

hiker we saw that we were carrying

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15 days worth of food, so they

wouldn't know why my pack was so big.

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And you know why I wanted to tell them?

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Because at 59, I am still afraid of being

judged just like I was in high school.

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Well, maybe I'm a little better

than I was then, but obviously

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I'm not where I want to be yet.

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While I contemplated this, I

recalled the last conference

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talk given by President Nelson.

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Speaking of the challenges we experience

on this journey of life, he said, these

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challenges can knock our self-confidence.

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However, disciples of Jesus Christ have

access to a different kind of confidence.

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When we make and keep covenants

with God, we can have confidence

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that is born of the spirit.

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and when I speak of having confidence

before God, I am referring to having

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confidence in approaching God right now.

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I am referring to praying with confidence

that Heavenly Father hears us, that he

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understands our needs better than we do.

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I am referring to having confidence

that he loves us more than we comprehend

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that he sends angels to be with us and

with those we love, I am referring to

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confidence that he yearns to help each

of us reach our highest potential.

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Now, how do we gain such confidence?

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The Lord answers this

question with these words.

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Let thy bows be full of

charity towards all men and let

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virtue garnish thy thoughts.

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Unceasingly Then shall thy confidence

wax strong in the presence of God?

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End quote.

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Uh, perhaps I've been focusing on

the wrong kind of self-confidence.

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The only confidence I really need is

the confidence to stand before my God,

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not to stand before some through hikers.

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Right?

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And maybe this quote would help always

remember whose daughter you are.

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Stand a little taller and

straighten your crown.

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I love that.

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Okay, moving on to lesson number

two, which I call taking baby steps.

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On the second day as I was picking up

my pack after lunch, I tried to be funny

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by calling my pack a torture device.

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And it was funny for a moment,

but I didn't let the joke drop.

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I continued calling my

pack the torture device.

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Now, I believe our words

create our experiences.

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This is a lesson I have learned in the

past, so I knew my words were a problem.

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I certainly did not want to live

for the next week and a half with

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a torture device on my back, so I

needed a better name for my pack.

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I thought about it and settled

on the name Big Bertha.

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It still emulated my sentiments.

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My pack was big and heavy, but it

didn't sound as bad as torture device.

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Then over the next day or so, I

shortened the name to simply Bertha.

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She was getting lighter after all, as

we had eaten several days worth of food.

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But then one day I happened

to call her Birdie for short.

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It just slipped out and I got so excited.

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Birdie, it sounds light, doesn't it?

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Light as a bird.

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What better name for my pack?

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On reflection here is what I

learned from this experience.

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Yes, words make a difference,

but you can't change your words

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to things you don't believe.

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Have you ever heard people

say affirmations don't work?

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I believe that's because

they're saying affirmations.

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They don't believe I'm going to win.

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The lottery doesn't work

because who believes that I'm

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going to get a better job?

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Depending on what you

believe that one might work.

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I hope you get my point.

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The words we use are important, but I

couldn't change my thoughts from torture

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device to birdie all in one go, but

big Bertha to Bertha to birdie from me.

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That worked and that is a lesson

I hope to remember for the future

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onto my number three lesson.

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Our original plan for this trip was

to hike the Highline Trail in the

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Uinta Mountains of Northeastern Utah.

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But as we were driving to the

Trailhead, we learned that a

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wildfire had started in the area.

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Yep.

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Just our luck.

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We pulled up maps of the burn area.

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We looked for alternate

routes around the fire.

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In the end, we decided it would

be best if we went somewhere else,

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so on the fly, just like that.

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We changed our plans and we headed to

the Wind River Mountains in Wyoming.

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It was great.

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I was actually proud of myself for

being able to make the quick pivot.

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We weren't going where we wanted.

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Still, it was all going to work out.

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But you know what happened?

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We were five days from the end of the trip

when we saw off in the distance, great

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plumes of smoke, and that smoke was in the

direction we were heading, and it was in

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the direction where our truck was parked.

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Fortunately, we had with us a GPS

device, which we were able to use

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to contact our daughters, and they

were able to relay us information.

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We learned that the fire was

blocking the only road out of the

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area and that our truck was trapped.

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We were also informed that the Forest

Service wanted us to change our plans

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and head out a different trail where we

would be picked up by a sheriff's shuttle.

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Do you know what that would mean?

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Our truck would be left in the fire

zone with the potential of burning up,

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and we would have no way to get home.

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And even worse, in my mind at that moment,

I wouldn't have any clean clothes to

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put on when I got back to civilization.

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The best laid plans we had

safely avoided one fire only to

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be caught in a different one.

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Isn't that an example of life?

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We can get out the map, we can

make all the plans we want.

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It doesn't mean anything is going to work

out the way we planned, uh, what to do?

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I thought of the book by

Byron Katie called Loving.

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What is.

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The title says it all.

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My only choice was to remind myself

to love this part of the adventure as

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much as the rest, Byron says, it's not

the problem that causes our suffering,

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it's our thinking about the problem.

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I had to let go of my fear.

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Fear of losing our truck and the

expense that would incur and the fear

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of being stranded hundreds of miles

from home without any clean clothes.

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In the end, we were heading down

the trail and seriously just minutes

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from taking the alternate route.

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When we met a group of ladies who

had learned from their outside source

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that if we could get to our truck, the

Forest Service would let us drive out.

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They weren't letting vehicles drive

into the fire zone, but we could leave.

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We jumped at the chance to get our truck.

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We cut our trip short, and we

hiked out as fast as we could.

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You know what, I had been so worried

and in the end it wasn't an issue.

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Uh, I have learned this lesson

so many times in my life.

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I pray this time, it sinks in.

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Truly, there was no reason to worry.

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I am not saying I should

have blown off my feelings.

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Sometimes we need to sit with worry,

but as the saying goes, if it isn't

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going to matter in five years, don't

worry about it more than five minutes.

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I love that, and this time I am determined

to remember so that the next time my life

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journey brings fear and worry into my

life, I will know better how to handle it.

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so there you go.

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Judy and I use the word journey

because it is our goal to learn and

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grow and pivot and change and learn

again until ultimately we become who

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God knows we are truly meant to be.

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Okay.

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Judy and I know your time is precious

and that you have many choices.

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We love that you have chosen to

walk with us for a few minutes as

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we navigate this journey of life.

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If you like this podcast, will you take

the time right now to share it with a

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friend, share it somewhere on social

media, or leave us a five star rating.

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And if you listen to Apple Podcast,

will you leave us a five star review

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your efforts truly make a difference in

helping this podcast reach more people.

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It also lets Judy and me know that

you like our show and it will give

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us the motivation to keep going.

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Thank you in advance for your help.

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And let me end with the words

of the ancient Roman philosopher

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Horace, who admonished whatever

hour God has blessed you with.

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Take it with grateful hands, nor postpone

your joys from year to year so that

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in whatever place you have been, you

may say that you have lived happily.

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Namaste.