I heard a great sermon the other day. Being a pastor at a church in San Francisco, the pastor’s main message was that rather than striving alone for whatever things we set out to achieve for ourselves, we should all invite God into our lives, wherever space we go that we are proud to invite him (another great lesson here: don’t go to spaces that you aren’t proud to or can’t invite God into, which becomes a strong moral compass similar to “don’t do things you aren’t proud to tell your grandmother”), and abide by what he has in plans for us.

For those of you who are non-religious (including myself, at least not yet), I wanted to share this as it doesn’t only pertain to Christiantiy, but rather touches on spirituality in general.

It’s too overwhelming to carry all of our loads soley on our shoulders, often inducing anxiety and drilling that hole of void inside our hearts. This is especially true during the tougher times, the uncertain times, the times that we cannot go through on our own.

Instead of stubbornly latching onto everything to have full control as you are used to, lift those weights off of your shoulders and believe there’s something bigger than ourselves in the works. Believe that it is in the works to guide us to the best direction possible, ones that we couldn’t even imagine before since we didn’t even know they existed.

I’m not telling you to stop working hard or suddenly start believing in God. I’m just saying it’s too hard, often impossible to do everything on your own.

Supportive, compassionate people who love you can go a long way sharing your loads, but they also often fall short as they are humans with their own struggles in life.

So lean in, and believe in the works of something bigger than you. Whether that’s God, the universe, or anything else that you believe in, it will help guiding you in the right direction if you accept its helping hand, invite it into your life, and allow it to carry your burdens together.

To thrive, abide by, rather than strive.