Surviving the storm

When you’re going through difficult times, one of the analogies you often hear is the sun always comes out after the rain – or something similar. People will describe it in different ways, but the sentiment is the difficult times will pass and life will be good again. I took this photo from the roof of my office building yesterday. I suddenly realised this was the perfect pictorial representation of that thought.

Yesterday afternoon, this storm suddenly rolled in. Out of no where, the sky got dark, thunder rolled and lightening struck. It happened so quickly and unexpectedly and was over a few minutes after it began. The clouds blew away and the blue sky returned. A lot like so many of life’s events.

I love this picture because it shows that under the storm, the sun is still shining the sky is still blue.  When storms hit, we often forget this. We can feel so consumed by the clouds, thunder and lightening that we don’t even notice when the blue sky returns. We continue to carry around our umbrellas, expecting the storm to dump another downpour on us, instead of sitting in the sunshine enjoying the warmth.

When storms suddenly hit like this, we take shelter and protect ourselves while they blow over us. Once they past, we walk outside, assess any damage, fix it, and walk out into the sunshine. We don’t act like the storm is still raging when the sun is clearly shining so why do we do that with the life storms that suddenly hit us?

Sadly, assessing and fixing the damage that life storms leave behind is not as quick and easy as Mother Nature storms. Sometimes, the storm lasts much longer. Sometimes, the damage is more severe. Sometimes, the clean up is much harder. But despite all of that, it’s important to remember that no matter how long the storm lasts, or how much devastation it leaves behind, the sky is still blue, and the sun is still shining.