Rainbows and Storms

If you haven’t noticed yet, I love analogies and metaphors. Short stories, thoughts, or ideas that lead to us simple, and new (even fun) ways to look at life. Nature can be a great teacher. It has a way of showing us things, offering us hope, or even a promise.

That’s how I see rainbows.

Have you ever been driving down the road, just minding your own business, and there it is ... a beautiful rainbow in the midst of fickle, crazy weather?!

And, isn’t it amazing how rainbows always seem to surprise us when they show up? The rainbow appears when the rain ceases, the clouds part a bit, and the sun is allowed to shine through. Rainbows show up right in the middle of a storm.

Our lives can mirror nature sometimes, and be like that unpredictable storm.

The question is how do we deal with those storms when they show up? Are we supposed to do anything with the storm once the clouds part, the crazy ceases for a bit, and our heads are clearer? Do our personal storms offer us some sort of hope, or promise, maybe even a silver lining?

I firmly believe that none of life’s storms should be wasted.

Certainly most of us would want to avoid repeating a bad situation. And for that reason alone, I think it’s wise to look for the silver lining, the hope, or the promise after a personal storm.

Maybe the sole purpose of the storm was to reveal a life-lesson, a gift of clarity about a situation, a relationship, a career, or a choice we’ve made that no longer serves our best interest. Maybe after the storm we’re lead to safety, peace and the promise of wonderful new journeys. Maybe the storms of life are on purpose...

What?! Storms on purpose? I’d never do that to myself, you say.

Well, what if there’s more going on here than we can actually see, or completely understand? There are times when so much seems to be out of our control, but as most would agree it’s how we walk through, and survive our storms that ultimately determines our character. Could it be we’re creating our storms to become more of the person we really know we are ... that powerful, “can do” person? It sure beats being pitiful Polly; wouldn’t you agree?

We can stand firm in the storm, or be blown over like a tree in a hurricane, never fully recovering. In the end it’s our choice. We can repeat the storm, or learn from it. I would encourage you to look for that silver lining, the promise or the hope when life’s storms show up. Who knows, the storm might even offer us pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!

I'm always looking for Magic and Miracles in the Mess.