Disclosure: Tyndale House Publishers  provided me with a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions shared here are 100% mine.

Each of us has obstacles to face. A cross to bear, if you will. Those challenges, difficulties, or stumbling blocks might seem insurmountable. Today I want to share with you the encouragement to face those hardships and persevere. In the end, God has a plan to be glorified through your life. Will you trust Him to get you through it?

My mountain to climb was my deciding to change the path of my life. My parents didn’t make it easy to be a Christian, but I was determined to follow that lifestyle because I truly accepted Jesus as my Savior and Lord. Thankfully I was led to people and places that supported, encouraged, and accepted me in a way that my family never did. Reaching the top of my mountain was not easy but it was worth the climb.  What struggles do you face today? 

You might have heard about the recent disaster on Mount Everest that left dozens of people dead. What a heartbreak! So many people died trying to achieve their life’s dream, or trying to help someone else meet that goal. While I don’t have answers to “Why” — only God can answer that — I trust that God can create something good out of something bad. Even as people struggle in their grief and pain, God can reach to the depths of their souls and offer comfort. As I read Blind Descent, the testimony of climber Brian Dickinson who survived alone and BLIND on Mount Everest, I was reminded of God’s unfailing love for his children. Dickinson’s family was a source of constant support for him. He also found strength through listening to uplifiting music from Creed and MercyMe.

Through this story, I learned a great deal about the science of climbing Mt. Everest. I never realized that the training for the climb was not merely for stamina and endurance. It’s actually necessary to allow the body time to adjust to higher elevations. I also learned how dedicated the sherpas must be, risking their lives while allowing others to reach the summit. The physical strength required for the climb paled in comparison to the mental strain, and that’s saying a lot! Dickinson was clearly an exceptionally healthy person. His descriptions of the constant barrage of obstacles made me want to quit for him. But that’s not how he saw it. He trusted God to see him through, regardless of what the end result would be here on Earth. Dickinson described the “Third Man Factor, ” which reminded me of the Footsteps poem.

During his journey to the summit, Dickinson became snow blind. This phenomenon occurs due to exposure to intense UV rays — basically a sunburn on the cornea. As awful as that sounds, how much worse is having it occur on top of Mt. Everest while you are ALONE? The thought makes my heart skip a beat. How many times have I felt spiritually snow blind? Unable to see beyond the reflection of the symbolic snow falling all around me, feeling alone and afraid? This is something that many people can understand, if not as a climbing experience but as a spiritual pain.  In the final moments of the book, I felt a great deal of satisfaction and comfort knowing that God loves his children no matter where they are on Earth. I mean that both geographically and spiritually. There is nowhere you can go where God cannot be with you, from the highest point on Earth to the darkest part of your soul. No matter what is your Mt. Everest, God can help you overcome. Allow him into your heart and you’ll never be alone again.

Granted, 10% Happier isn’t a book about physically climbing Mt. Everest.  However, it’s a terrific resource for anyone who needs to experience more calm and focus in their lives.  And, well, happiness!  Like Dickinson, author Dan  Harris was larger than life.  He worked side-by-side with Peter Jennings who, despite seeming like a kindhearted soul on TV, sounds like a caged animal in this book.  Harris described his exciting adventures as a journalist, living on the edge while reporting the whole thing on TV.  A few pages in, I had to peek at the back cover to see just who this guy was!  Imagine my surprise when I recognized the author from the news channels my husband watches all the time.  I smiled while reading the second where he describes how he fell in love with his wife.  I nodded as he warned against poking too hard with the internal cattle prod.  I pondered his words of wisdom in regard to his Zen lifestyle.  Even though I didn’t expect to relate to the book, I really did.

Be warned.  There is prolific profanity throughout 10% Happier. Be prepared for frequent mentions of drug use, too.  The book has merit, though. Is this a devotional?  Self-help?  No, not really.  Instead it’s more of an autobiography with a few inspirational pages at the end of it.  Still, as Harris dictated his dive into all things Buddhism, it made me wonder how these let-go-and-have-peace techniques could apply to Christianity, too. Self-centeredness and ego prime the pump of worry.  Could I apply these ideas in my own life (albeit somewhat less high-profile than Harris’s) and give God the glory?  Yes.  I think I can.