Dance in the Rain

I don’t know what you may be feeling, but late-lee it feels like life is spinning out of control. The last week and a half feels like two long years. The days bleed together as the headlines remain the same.  To some this virus is the very construct of some government conspiracy, while others believe it is the end of time in biblical proportions.  Regardless of what you may believe, the fear or devastation you may be feeling is very real.  Who is next? Why are we doing this? There’s nothing happening, so what’s the use? Thoughts engulf your mind much like a tornado raging through a town ripping apart structures. In its wake lies a path of destruction riddled with debris. Sleep, which is foreign to an analytical thinker, becomes even more scarce. The darkness beneath the eyes reveals the secret concerns.  The light in the eyes has dimmed within the darkness of daily despair.

So I sit. I find refuge in the warmth of the fresh air. “Breathe in. Breathe out.” I slowly remind myself.  I feel the soothing mixture of warm sun and cool breeze as the two mix perfectly to create an intoxicating calmness.  Throughout the day, I have to recenter myself. The anxiety tries to steal my breath and clamps my chest like a vice. “Faith over Fear!” “Faith over Fear!” I repeat it over and over.  I mean how can I claim the blood of Jesus and worry about what is happening around me right now? Isn’t that a sin? If I feel like I can’t trust God to care for me in the same way I can care for myself or my family, then what does that say about my relationship with Him? So, I sit.  I breathe…in…out! I focus on finding my center. For me, my center isn’t about what is found in it. It’s the who that lies in it! 

These are stressful times. The novelty of having the children home from school is wearing off as working moms or dads try to strike a harmonious stride between balancing school work with the stressors of their current work situations. The inability to go to a restaurant and have a meal with family or friends is taking its toll. The comic reality of finding shelf after shelf in grocery stores empty creates yet another concern of what will you and  your family eat.  Mentally, you may find yourself with fragmented thoughts. The “unknown” in any situation seems to be the hardest part to comprehend. How much longer, is the question that has transitioned from the lips of impatient children on trips to those of adults struggling to define indefinitely. So what do we do? 

 The way I see it is we have a choice. We can travel down the path of negative thinking pointing out one barrier after another or rise above and see this as an opportunity we can seize with positivity.  Admittedly, I have battled late-lee with that very choice. When I feel myself going down the negative path, I reach out to those I love. I don’t do it for them to agree with me and feed my negativity with more of it. I do so because I need them to remind me things are still good! People are still good! Robert Ingersoll said, “We rise by lifting others.” Sometimes I need my loved ones to help me rise by giving me a swift kick in the butt…LOL!  When we come together as one, we accomplish things we never dreamed we could. So, I say to you… Find your people! Love your people! Lift them up with truth and compassion and find joy in watching them rise! 

I vividly recall going through some dark times with my daughters. I reminded them often of the quote that goes something like “…you can’t run from the storm, but you can learn to dance in the rain.”  There were times we literally jumped and danced in puddles. Those times bring a smile to my face even as I share that now. Maya Angelou said, “The best part of life is not surviving, but thriving with passion and compassion, and humor and style and generosity and kindness.”  During this time, challenge yourself to dance in the puddles and share random acts of kindness with others. The quickest way to feel better is to help someone else. We don’t want to merely survive life as we currently know it. We want to thrive and continue to grow into good people.  Like someone sweet told me today, “This too shall pass and we will all be back together like normal.”

Prayers for each of you to stay safe and healthy! 🙂