Lessons Learned from Miley Cyrus

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I know how the title sounds and I also know you’re ready to find me hidden in a metropolis of Denver and crucify me. But read the post first. There is value in it. I think, at least.

A couple weeks ago I heard this song (you can watch it here) and the lyrics struck me. If you can forget for a moment who is actually singing the song and just think about the words, they make a powerful impact.

It’s not about the mountain, it’s all about the climb.

How often do we look at a mountain we want to scale and can’t wait to crest it? Reach that point of accomplishment. The point where we can look back and say that we made it? That we made the job promotion? Moved away from home? Got married? Had kids?

What is your mountain?

Because there is one more after that. And another after that. And another after that.

The lyrics to this song really struck a cord with me: It’s always going to be an uphill battle. There is always one more mountain. We reach the one we’re climbing, happy and content…until we see the next mountain.

And suddenly we are never done. Never reached the end, because every time we look up from the mountain we think will fulfill all our desires, we see the next dream. The next goal. The next want.

I thought moving away from home and working in a field I love, being around close friends, would solve all my desires and problems for right now. I thought I’d be happy and content. (And don’t get me wrong, I’m very happy where God has me). But now I see the next mountain. And the next. And the next.

I would like to think finding Mr. Right and making him mine would solve all my problems and I’d be content. But then I’d probably want to be out of the city and living in the country. Then I’d probably want to have kids and the cycle goes on and on.

There is a lesson to be learned in this song by Miley Cyrus, and yes I think it’s a spiritual reminder. A reminder that we always want something more. Something beyond what we have here and now. But when we’re always focused on the next mountain, we miss the lessons we’re learning right now. We miss the steps we are having to take to get us where we are going.

And we forget that it’s all about the climb. It’s all about the lessons we’re learning. It’s all about the journey.

It’s a theme I seem to need to relearn every other day. It’s an easy one to forget and let slide. It’s all too easy to get caught up in the view on the horizon, instead of what God has in front of us today. (though I don’t think there is anything wrong with enjoying the view—within the will and patience of where God has us now).

So I encourage you to listen to the song. Soak in the words. Think about how to apply them to the life you’re living now. Are you racing towards the next mountain instead of enjoying the climb in front you?

You only climb this mountain once.