By Jonathon Vogel
I just got back from a 9-day road trip from Nashville to Seattle and back. Here are a few lessons and insights I learned.
Stay hydrated. Life sucks when you don't steward your body well. I found that just water didn't cut it. Electrolytes were paramount to my energy, emotions, and mental clarity.
Don't overthink things. My travel buddy and I ruminated on what frustrates us about living in Nashville: poor quality connections, lack of quality dating options at church, our lack of opportunities. After listening to quite a few podcasts, the reframe we arrived at was this: take action on the things you don't like in life — you can do something about it.
Don't grasp, receive. I wasn't financially ready for this trip, but I went anyway. It turned out I was able to sell a personal item that gave me mental financial peace. The sale happened while I was traveling, and I made more than enough almost without doing anything — just sent a few texts. The lesson: sometimes God ordains you for something, and He provides everything you need for it, but only if you wait on Him to provide.
Let go of control. Things happened like the tire leaking, heavy mountain pass snow, and frustrating emotions between us while driving. Despite all that, when I surrendered everything to God, nothing could take my peace. I had a phone call with a friend recently, and his insight proved helpful: wait for the Lord to tell you what to do — don't just do things unless He asks you first. If I do things without Him asking me, it's way harder, and I burn out easily. This trip was almost effortless, despite the setbacks of the adventure, because God wanted me to do it.
Don't worry. I'm so disciplined at home with the food choices I make, and all of that went out the window while traveling. It's okay, though. I'm back in routine now. I wish I could've enjoyed the trip more instead of letting my frustration against myself steal my joy.
Think abundantly, not from scarcity. Before leaving Nashville, the grind of trying to make ends meet weighed on my mind so heavily that I couldn't enjoy any of the blessings in my life. The trip to Seattle was a double win because I could grab all my personal things I left there before moving to Nashville in March this year. Having all my things feels like a massive Christmas present because my resources 10x'd. Living from abundance is a gift and a necessary mindset to build what God is asking you to build and to trust that He has everything under control and will give you everything you need at the right time to do what He asks of you. This mindset came to me even before I had all my things. I have to keep reminding myself of this abundant mindset. It's not attached to the amount of resources you have; it's a way of life and an outlook you can practice.
So TLDR: I learned to stay hydrated, don't overthink things, don't grasp — receive, let go of control, don't worry, and think abundantly — not from scarcity.