Valley Experiences #379

Valley Experiences #379

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Last week, I encouraged you to remember your peak experiences, see out new ones, and encourage your children to find theirs. They are the moments where time seemed to stand still, where you felt fully alive and most like yourself. The kind of moments that make you smile the second you think about them. But this week, I want to talk about something different. Valley experiences.

A valley experience is a moment when things do not go as planned. It is when you fall down, fail at something, get hurt, or feel overlooked. It’s uncomfortable, sometimes painful, and often not something you would choose. But while we still remember those peak experiences, we’ll carry the lessons learned in the valleys even more.

I remember one of mine. I was about 12 years old when I saved up enough money to buy my own ten-speed bicycle. I was proud of it. I rode it around, showed it off to my friends, and felt like I had accomplished something. Then it happened. I looked back for just a second and ran straight into a parked car. I went face-first onto the street, scraped up my hands, and destroyed the bike. I walked home, dragging my bike, embarrassed and hurting. My mom cleaned me up, looked at me, and simply said, “Dust off and go back outside and play.” That was it. No long speech. She didn’t cuss out the car owner for parking there. But she gave me a lesson to get up and keep going. And I did.

Looking back now, that moment stuck with me more than the excitement of buying the bike. It taught me that no matter how hard I get knocked down, I have to get back up. Scripture reminds us in James 1:2–4 that trials test us and produce perseverance and steadfastness, and that sometimes those valley experiences do more in us than we realize in the moment.

For many of us, those valleys show up in our teenage years. I remember getting pushed around by the “cool kids” in high school. I was not part of that group, and for a while, I felt it. But over time, I learned to connect with others, see them for who they were, and build relationships. Little did I know then that I was trying to treat others as I wanted to be treated. Eventually, I stopped paying attention to the bullies.

Unfortunately, not all lessons are positive. And that’s what happened to me because somewhere I became afraid of failure, and, if I am being honest, that lesson has followed me longer than it should have. But that’s the reality of valley experiences. They shape you. Sometimes in ways that help you, and sometimes in ways that you have to pull out the proverbial thorn.

Life is not just about the peaks. Life is an adventure, a journey filled with both peaks and valleys. Sometimes you’re either sitting in a tree enjoying a peak moment or falling from one into a valley. But there is a lesson in each.

So, the question is not whether you will experience valleys. The question is what you will take from them. Will you let them define you, or will you let them develop you? Either way, those lessons will shape who you become tomorrow, and ultimately the legacy you leave behind.

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