The Lightning Strike

The obstacles in life are much like storms—troubles that blow into our lives leaving leave you us to deal with the aftermath. Storms at times can produce many different kinds of conditions: lightning, thunder, rain, wind or hail. Some problems in life fall like rain; a steady stream of minor annoyances, that are manageable on their own but can really add up, and after a while we can find ourselves soaking wet, feeling miserable. Rain, whether a slight drizzle or a torrential downpour, comes into our lives. At some point the important part is how we choose to face it. 

We can choose to bring an umbrella, be extra prepared for things to go wrong. Being prepared, however, is not always an option. That is when we must learn just to simply play in the rain. My grandmother always encouraged me as a child to jump in the puddles; sometimes we have to jump, feet first into the shallow water and shout: "This can't hurt me!". We must decide not to let these little droplets affect us because the sun always eventually comes back out. 

Hail is a similar phenomenon to rain but is a lot more destructive. In In life, one thing after another can hit us, each piece of ice stinging pretty bad. After a while we feel pretty bruised and battered. All you can do with hail is seek shelter and wait it out. Sometimes we need a little help to find shelter, we need others the kindness and support of others to survive the barrage.

A storm can also produce lightning and thunder. Lightning is an extremely violent, totally random event that shows how little control we sometimes have in life. Getting hit by lightning, much like major challenges, is very rare but despite popular myth it can strike twice. A single bolt of lightning can create temperatures over 50,000 degrees, literally burning off all the oxygen in its path. Thunder is the result of air—our life—rushing back into the void left from the strike, it makes a deafening rumble that shakes you to the core. Often times by the time the pain sets in, the event has already happened. What can hurt the most is the adjustment period–the thunder.

In a hurricane, the most powerful type of storm, the wind is does the most damage, leveling houses, trees and power lines, throwing boats around like toys. Wind is all about intensity and persistence, the more intense and longer the gust blows the more destruction it does. We can learn from nature how to withstand the wind, palm trees are able survive incredible wind-speeds for one reason: they can bend. 

There are certain times in life where something comes along and knocks down everything you know, changing the very landscape of your existence. Though things may never be the same after, but we must rebuild and move forward with everything we have left. In my life, I have personally weathered many storms, but that sun just keeps showing it's brilliant face again, and I just keep moving on. 

When the storm comes, hold on. You can survive.

P.S. Vanessa Hudgens