It’s funny how Mother Nature can teach you a lesson without
even trying.
Here in the Pacific Northwest, the bulk of the western side
of Washington was preparing for the worst…a
storm of “epic” proportions, to quite possibly match that of a storm that
occurred even before I was born.
Going to the store for a plain ‘ole gallon of milk became a
chore, as shoppers had to swim against the horde of frenzied consumers who
thought they needed enough food and water in light of the possibility that they
might be stuck in their houses for…I honestly don’t know how long people
thought we’d be buried under wires and trees.
If the storm were as bad as they thought it might be, we
knew we’d possibly be without power for 2-3 days or maybe even a week. It’s happened before at least a handful of
times over the course of at least two decades.
Because of where I live, in a remote, rural area in a small town, we are
usually the last on the list when it comes to how soon we might finally get to
see those heroes we call linemen.
The predictions of weather forecasters gave us a good scare
as they portrayed Mother Nature in a diabolical way and warned how much we may
be assaulted by her. So everyone
hunkered down, waiting out the storm, hoping it would just pass on by.
For us, it did just that.
We were pelted with some heavy wind for a short bit, and a whole lot of
rain, but hey…we live in Washington so it’s to be expected. There are some who weren’t so lucky but we
did not lose power or a single tree and we had removed danger trees away from
our house years ago, for fear of what might happen if we didn’t. But I had prepared myself for the likelihood
that it might be worse than when we were suddenly, and without much warning as
I recall, hit by a storm on my oldest son’s birthday almost five years ago –
the amount of trees we lost during that unexpected storm was a sight to behold.
 |
| January 2012, what was left after a storm of "epic" proportions |
We tried to stay positive, but it’s always good to be
prepared. We had hoped for the best, but
we braced for the worst.
There is something to be learned from Mother Nature – maybe
she is like any woman who doesn’t like being told what she’s going to do and she’ll
go about doing just the opposite. Maybe,
but it’s also how we can all go about living our lives with optimism, courage
and confidence, even in light of the possibility that epic storms may occur. It never hurts to be prepared…that’s a given,
but I let the words and predictions of others keep me in a state of mind that
left me anxious. I’m mad at myself for
watching the news as much as I did while they kept going on and on about the
epic storm we might be up against – those are wasted minutes I can never get
back. We can all act like Chicken Little
and claim the sky is falling, but why live in a constant state of panic and
pessimism? If you’re familiar with the
fable, not the Disney version, you know most versions of the story don’t commonly
end well. Besides, if the sky were to
actually fall, all the time we spent fearing the worst takes away from time
better spent in the present.
This may be well beyond what you got out of this storm or
any other, but for me, it just reminds me that we should all do our best to
make a habit of being optimistic and expect the best, while remaining confident
that if the worst actually happens, we’ll have enough courage in order to
handle it.
Have a great week!
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