pov: you went outside and realized its not that deep
Nathan Miller reflects on how nature puts human worries in perspective. At 18, he confronted a grudge using biblical forgiveness and found peace. He argues that surrendering to God and living in the present, not chasing possessions or rehashing the past, is where real fulfillment comes from.
Chapters
That's cold, boys, but nothing better. Nothing better than a good old cold splurge, you know what I'm saying? Whenever I'm in nature, like whenever I'm in a place like this, I'm in nature, right? Like if I turn you around, we got these crazy mountains up here. You guys can see those beautiful river. It makes me realize how small we really are and how much we actually worry about so many stupid things. And I was just reading the beginning of Ecclesiastes. It's Sunday. I didn't go to church today. I kind of missed church, so I was like, you know what, I'm gonna go out here and read my Bible and connect with nature, connect with God. And God really spoke to me. And in the beginning of Ecclesiastes, it basically just talks about how everything is futile, even the pursuit of knowledge, the pursuit of wisdom. It all fades. Everything fades. And I'm sure you guys have experienced this in your own life. Like, we worry about the dumbest things. We worry about how people perceive us. We worry about an awkward interaction we need to have. We worry about, you know, a little thing that happened in the past that maybe we haven't forgiven somebody over. Or we even worry about something we've done in the past that we're worried someone else is holding over us. And it's all so small and so futile. Like, our lifespan, we only a couple of milliseconds according to the overall span of humanity, the overall lifespan of this world, of this Earth. Like, our life is a couple— it's a glimpse, it is a speck of time, it's a speck of reality that we get to experience on this planet. And so I want you guys to really understand, like, if you zoom out and you really see how small we are, that none of this crap matters, bro. Like, the car you drive doesn't matter at all. The house you live in doesn't matter at all. Sure, like, you could have nice things, but if you are constantly worried about these things, bro, like, you're not getting it. You're not living life. You're, you're worried about the future, you're worried about the past, you're stuck in the past, stuck in the future. Those things actually don't exist. They only exist in your head. If you really think about it, if you really dive deep and really go and actually come into this with an open mind, anytime you are considering the future or the past, it's inside your own It's not in reality, because all we can do in reality is be in the present. The only thing we can smell, change, act, you know, even like experience is the present. And so by focusing on the past, by focusing on the future, you're shooting yourself in the foot and not, you know, actually going through and living and experiencing and enjoying one gift that you have at this moment, which is the present. And I know everyone knows nowadays, like, how important it is to be in the present. I think, I think God— and obviously it's kind of a mainstream thing now, but I just want to reiterate with you guys, like, if you guys are really trying to live a happy life, you guys are really trying to find fulfillment, find joy, you're not going to find it in material things. You're not going to find it in necessarily even relationships. You're not going to find it in any of those things. The only way you find fulfillment, true fulfillment, true joy that actually lasts, true peace that actually lasts is by following God and by allowing yourself, right, sacrificing parts of yourself, taking a leap of faith, and actually pursuing him. And for some of you guys out there, I know this is not my usual content, but like, I'm super passionate about this stuff. Some of you guys are out there like, okay, Nate, like, I want to believe in God, you know, I want to believe in him, I want to have faith, but like, I find it super hard. I don't understand, like, You might have tried reading the Bible or something and it just didn't click. I'm going to tell you guys exactly what I did when I was 18 years old that made me, you know, start actually trusting God with my life again and, you know, really sparked my faith to what it is today. When I was driving, I was driving down this road and I was passing the church we usually went to. And for some reason, I felt called upon my heart. I was like, dude, I have been questioning this for so long. I've been going back back and forth on different arguments, but like, I've never really just taken a leap of faith and tried. And you guys are like, okay, how do I try? What I did is, at the time, I had someone who in my life, like, I had a grievance against and I was not happy with, and it was someone I was super close to at one point. And God, when I was like, okay, you know, I'm gonna take a leap of faith, the first thing I did was like, how do I deal with this situation? You guys, we all have situations. You have situations, I have situations. We all have things we're dealing with. And so if you go to the Bible and you look up how to actually deal with that situation, and then you apply the Bible's knowledge, wisdom to it, and you actually follow through, that's how you can take the leap of faith. And you guys will see the fruit of that eventually, if not instantly. You guys will see that the stuff in there is not a lie. The stuff in there is not a fabricated tale. The stuff in there is the true word of God and the true wisdom that he wants us to live by. And so that's what I did. I applied it to this, and the amount of peace I got. Because at the time, I was so— when it came to this person, I was, I was very angry and I was very resentful. And I just decided to forgive them because that's what the Bible teaches. And I, I got so much peace from that. You guys have no idea. I got so much peace from that. It's like, I can't really describe it, but like, it took a huge burden, a huge weight off my shoulders. Made me a more loving person, a more forgiving person, obviously, because I forgave, but more accepting person. And You know, that's kind of how you do it. And so I don't know why I felt called to make this video. I just pulled a bunch in there. Obviously you guys saw that, that was pretty crazy. This is like directly from the mountain. Like we have ski areas up there, we got Snowbird, Alta. And so this is literally like snow runoff, so it is freezing cold. But dude, nothing feels better than getting in a river, I tell you that much. But yeah guys, don't focus on the small things. If you want to take the leap of faith, just apply it to your current situation, see what happens. But we have such— we're such a small speck in the grand scheme of things, guys. So focus on what really matters and your life will bear fruit. That's what it's done for me. When I actually started focusing and pointing my direction, my faith, pointing myself towards God, that's when I became successful. That's when I, you know, made more money, even though that's not really what matters. But what really matters is the freedom. And that's when all these things happen, is when I kind of made that switch. And like He continues to sprout new trees and to bear new fruit in me. And it's pretty cool to see how, you know, once you give your life and you give your faith, He really does take care of you. So yeah, hope you guys enjoy this. Enjoy your beautiful Sunday. This is an amazing day. Get outside, get into nature. I know most of you guys don't have this pretty close. I'm pretty lucky to have this, um, but there's always something you can do. So God bless you all and peace.
