Episode 85

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Published on:

6th Oct 2025

The Remarkable Journey of Life

Ghia—Have you ever wondered why people use the word Journey to describe life? Perhaps it’s because during a journey we’re always moving both physically, emotionally, and spiritually — evolving as we go.

Transcript
Speaker:

Hooray, GIA here.

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I'm this week's host of the Creative

Spiritual Journey podcast where Judy and I

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talk about those things that bring us joy.

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For me, I find joy by connecting

with nature, connecting with Jesus

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Christ and our heavenly parents.

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Seasonal living, and all the bits of magic

and wonder I come across while navigating

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this remarkable journey we call life.

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Did you hear those last

few words of my intro?

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I mentioned the Remarkable

Journey of Life.

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Today, I want to share my thoughts about

those words, the remarkable Journey.

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I used the word remarkable

here deliberately.

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It would've been easy to say,

wonderful journey of life, or

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amazing journey of life, but those

words didn't sound right to me.

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Life can be wonderful and amazing.

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But it isn't all the time.

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Sometimes it's downright horrible.

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I pick the word remarkable

because it has a ton of synonyms.

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Synonyms, like extraordinary,

outstanding, striking, dramatic, distinct.

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Those are all great.

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But then there are also synonyms, like

bizarre, odd, curious, crazy and weird.

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I don't know about you, but

now we are describing the life.

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I know it encompasses all of these words,

and more thus, I find life remarkable.

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Now, how about this word journey?

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Why did I put this word in my intro and

why did Judy and I put it in the title of

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our name, the creative spiritual journey?

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Honestly, for me at least, I like using

the word journey because it sounds

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mythical and poetic, maybe even enchanted.

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I like it because it

implies movement and growth.

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Life isn't static.

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Saying it's a journey acknowledges that we

are always moving physically, emotionally,

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and spiritually evolving as we go.

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It implies transformation and alchemy.

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To me, the word journey

also invites adventure.

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A sense of excitement and possibility.

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It sparks curiosity and a

willingness to embrace the unknown.

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Now for the last few years since

Judy and I started the Creative

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Spiritual Journey project, I have been

marking what I call journey language.

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When I read the conference talks,

and believe it or not, I have found

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a ton of journey language quotes

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Here is one of my favorite.

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This is from Elder Ballard.

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He said,

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My great grandparents and other

early pioneers faced many obstacles

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as they came by wagon handcar and

walking to the Salt Lake Valley.

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We too face challenges in our

individual journeys through our lives.

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We are not pushing can carts or

driving covered wagons over steep

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mountains and through deep snow drifts.

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We are trying, as they did to

spiritually overcome the temptations

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and challenges of our day.

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We have trails to walk, we have hills

and sometimes mountains to climb.

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Although the trails today are

different than those of the early

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pioneers, they are no less challenging.

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End quote.

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So there it is.

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This life is a journey.

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I think we use this word journey

because a journey is something deeper,

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more personal than say just a trip.

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A trip is usually short and

focused on a destination like

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a vacation or a quick visit.

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A journey on the other hand, takes

time and it changes us along the way.

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A journey is shaped by experiences,

both the joyful and the difficult,

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and it involves choices.

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We decide which paths to

take, which direction to go.

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At the crossroads, sometimes we get lost.

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Sometimes we discover unexpected trails,

which describes life, don't you think?

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Life is full of decisions

that shape who we become.

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A journey includes obstacles,

setbacks and detours, but also growth.

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The challenges we face teach

us resilience and wisdom.

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And just like any great journey, life

brings moments of wonder and discovery.

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We marvel, we connect, we find

meaning in places we didn't expect.

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But maybe the most important

thing about a journey is this.

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It isn't how we travel or how far we go,

it's about who we become along the way.

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I love this idea of

becoming, who am I becoming?

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I wonder this all the time.

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And here is the lawyer esque way

that DH Oaks puts this concept.

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He says, the final judgment is

not just an evaluation of the

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sum total of good and evil acts.

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What we do, it is an acknowledgement of

the final effect of our acts and thoughts.

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What we have become.

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to me this means that it isn't about

if I exercise every morning or even

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if I say my prayers every morning.

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These are both good things, but it's

about how these things change me.

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That's why Judy and I named this

podcast The Creative Spiritual

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Journey, because we wanted to focus

on change, I don't just want to

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let those changes happen by chance.

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I want to be a part of the process.

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I mean, life is going to

happen no matter what I do.

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Either way, I'm going to have experiences

that change me, but if I am an active

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participant, I get to influence

at least some of those changes.

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So as part of this episode, I thought I

would share some of the lessons I have

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recently learned on my journey of life.

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This last August, I spent 15 days

backpacking with my fabulous man.

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My number one goal was to do as much

as possible an epic mountain adventure.

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I wanted lots of miles.

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I wanted to camp above tree line.

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I wanted layover days where we

didn't need to move the tent.

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I wanted to be in the mountains

for as long as possible.

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But given that I am not as young as I

used to be and that the longer we were

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in the mountains, the more food here

weight we had to carry, we needed to put

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some limits on the mileage we would be

doing each day and all that was great.

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I was happy with our plan until.

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We got out there and you know

what happened out on the trail?

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We crossed paths with through hikers.

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These are people who are hiking from

Canada to Mexico in one season and they

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are easily hiking 15 to 25 miles a day,

and they are doing it fast and light.

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They carry absolutely no extra gear,

so their packs are really small.

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So, you know what I did?

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Every time I saw one of those

hikers, I, number one got embarrassed

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because my pack was so big.

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And number two got envious

because I wanted to be able

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to move as fast as they were.

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Uh, the journey.

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Can you see my life lesson here?

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I had to keep reminding myself.

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I wasn't out there for

the same reason they were.

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We planned on doing in 15 days

what they were doing in six, and

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that meant I got to see more.

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I was the one that got to sit and watch

the mirror-like reflection in the lake,

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and I got to watch the Otter catch a fish.

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Those people were having fun

putting on their miles, but I

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was doing something different.

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I was deliberately taking it slow still.

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I wanted to tell every through

hiker we saw that we were carrying

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15 days worth of food, so they

wouldn't know why my pack was so big.

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And you know why I wanted to tell them?

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Because at 59, I am still afraid of being

judged just like I was in high school.

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Well, maybe I'm a little better

than I was then, but obviously

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I'm not where I want to be yet.

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While I contemplated this, I

recalled the last conference

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talk given by President Nelson.

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Speaking of the challenges we experience

on this journey of life, he said, these

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challenges can knock our self-confidence.

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However, disciples of Jesus Christ have

access to a different kind of confidence.

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When we make and keep covenants

with God, we can have confidence

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that is born of the spirit.

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and when I speak of having confidence

before God, I am referring to having

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confidence in approaching God right now.

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I am referring to praying with confidence

that Heavenly Father hears us, that he

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understands our needs better than we do.

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I am referring to having confidence

that he loves us more than we comprehend

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that he sends angels to be with us and

with those we love, I am referring to

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confidence that he yearns to help each

of us reach our highest potential.

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Now, how do we gain such confidence?

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The Lord answers this

question with these words.

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Let thy bows be full of

charity towards all men and let

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virtue garnish thy thoughts.

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Unceasingly Then shall thy confidence

wax strong in the presence of God?

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End quote.

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Uh, perhaps I've been focusing on

the wrong kind of self-confidence.

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The only confidence I really need is

the confidence to stand before my God,

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not to stand before some through hikers.

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Right?

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And maybe this quote would help always

remember whose daughter you are.

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Stand a little taller and

straighten your crown.

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I love that.

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Okay, moving on to lesson number

two, which I call taking baby steps.

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On the second day as I was picking up

my pack after lunch, I tried to be funny

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by calling my pack a torture device.

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And it was funny for a moment,

but I didn't let the joke drop.

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I continued calling my

pack the torture device.

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Now, I believe our words

create our experiences.

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This is a lesson I have learned in the

past, so I knew my words were a problem.

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I certainly did not want to live

for the next week and a half with

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a torture device on my back, so I

needed a better name for my pack.

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I thought about it and settled

on the name Big Bertha.

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It still emulated my sentiments.

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My pack was big and heavy, but it

didn't sound as bad as torture device.

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Then over the next day or so, I

shortened the name to simply Bertha.

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She was getting lighter after all, as

we had eaten several days worth of food.

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But then one day I happened

to call her Birdie for short.

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It just slipped out and I got so excited.

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Birdie, it sounds light, doesn't it?

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Light as a bird.

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What better name for my pack?

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On reflection here is what I

learned from this experience.

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Yes, words make a difference,

but you can't change your words

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to things you don't believe.

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Have you ever heard people

say affirmations don't work?

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I believe that's because

they're saying affirmations.

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They don't believe I'm going to win.

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The lottery doesn't work

because who believes that I'm

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going to get a better job?

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Depending on what you

believe that one might work.

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I hope you get my point.

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The words we use are important, but I

couldn't change my thoughts from torture

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device to birdie all in one go, but

big Bertha to Bertha to birdie from me.

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That worked and that is a lesson

I hope to remember for the future

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onto my number three lesson.

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Our original plan for this trip was

to hike the Highline Trail in the

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Uinta Mountains of Northeastern Utah.

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But as we were driving to the

Trailhead, we learned that a

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wildfire had started in the area.

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Yep.

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Just our luck.

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We pulled up maps of the burn area.

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We looked for alternate

routes around the fire.

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In the end, we decided it would

be best if we went somewhere else,

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so on the fly, just like that.

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We changed our plans and we headed to

the Wind River Mountains in Wyoming.

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It was great.

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I was actually proud of myself for

being able to make the quick pivot.

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We weren't going where we wanted.

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Still, it was all going to work out.

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But you know what happened?

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We were five days from the end of the trip

when we saw off in the distance, great

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plumes of smoke, and that smoke was in the

direction we were heading, and it was in

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the direction where our truck was parked.

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Fortunately, we had with us a GPS

device, which we were able to use

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to contact our daughters, and they

were able to relay us information.

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We learned that the fire was

blocking the only road out of the

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area and that our truck was trapped.

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We were also informed that the Forest

Service wanted us to change our plans

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and head out a different trail where we

would be picked up by a sheriff's shuttle.

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Do you know what that would mean?

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Our truck would be left in the fire

zone with the potential of burning up,

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and we would have no way to get home.

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And even worse, in my mind at that moment,

I wouldn't have any clean clothes to

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put on when I got back to civilization.

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The best laid plans we had

safely avoided one fire only to

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be caught in a different one.

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Isn't that an example of life?

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We can get out the map, we can

make all the plans we want.

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It doesn't mean anything is going to work

out the way we planned, uh, what to do?

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I thought of the book by

Byron Katie called Loving.

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What is.

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The title says it all.

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My only choice was to remind myself

to love this part of the adventure as

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much as the rest, Byron says, it's not

the problem that causes our suffering,

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it's our thinking about the problem.

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I had to let go of my fear.

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Fear of losing our truck and the

expense that would incur and the fear

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of being stranded hundreds of miles

from home without any clean clothes.

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In the end, we were heading down

the trail and seriously just minutes

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from taking the alternate route.

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When we met a group of ladies who

had learned from their outside source

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that if we could get to our truck, the

Forest Service would let us drive out.

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They weren't letting vehicles drive

into the fire zone, but we could leave.

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We jumped at the chance to get our truck.

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We cut our trip short, and we

hiked out as fast as we could.

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You know what, I had been so worried

and in the end it wasn't an issue.

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Uh, I have learned this lesson

so many times in my life.

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I pray this time, it sinks in.

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Truly, there was no reason to worry.

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I am not saying I should

have blown off my feelings.

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Sometimes we need to sit with worry,

but as the saying goes, if it isn't

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going to matter in five years, don't

worry about it more than five minutes.

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I love that, and this time I am determined

to remember so that the next time my life

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journey brings fear and worry into my

life, I will know better how to handle it.

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so there you go.

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Judy and I use the word journey

because it is our goal to learn and

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grow and pivot and change and learn

again until ultimately we become who

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God knows we are truly meant to be.

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Okay.

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Judy and I know your time is precious

and that you have many choices.

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We love that you have chosen to

walk with us for a few minutes as

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we navigate this journey of life.

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If you like this podcast, will you take

the time right now to share it with a

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friend, share it somewhere on social

media, or leave us a five star rating.

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And if you listen to Apple Podcast,

will you leave us a five star review

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your efforts truly make a difference in

helping this podcast reach more people.

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It also lets Judy and me know that

you like our show and it will give

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us the motivation to keep going.

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Thank you in advance for your help.

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And let me end with the words

of the ancient Roman philosopher

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Horace, who admonished whatever

hour God has blessed you with.

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Take it with grateful hands, nor postpone

your joys from year to year so that

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in whatever place you have been, you

may say that you have lived happily.

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Namaste.

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About the Podcast

Creative Spiritual Journey
one small, deliberate step at a time
We are all on a journey—a journey home to our heavenly parents. Any experienced traveler knows there are days you laugh and days you cry.

We aren’t here to tell you how to live—we are here to share how we live—how we survive, thrive, and even find joy!

The journey gets messy with rainstorms and sleepless flights but the hard times—the miserable times—those make the best stories.

And the vistas, the sunsets, the little birds outside the window—those are the reminders that God is in the details, he is aware of us, he has trod the path before.

The Creative Spiritual Journey Podcast is hosted by Judy and Ghia Cooley—two sisters in their wisdom years—who love the savior and are dedicated to making this journey one small, deliberate step at a time.

Join us!

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Ghia Cooley