“If it can’t weather the storm with you, it’s not for you.  Storms pass and when you look around you see that some things won’t be there after the storm.  That hurts but that’s also, it could be a blessing in disguise.  What’s happening is these things are happening around you, all of this is conspiring in your favor, you just have to learn to let go what is not of you. You have to learn to let the storm do its work.  That’s why storms are so important in our lives.  It’s just a different perspective, a reframe on storms, chaos.  See it through that lens.  Let’s have hope.  You’re strong.  Storms got nothing on you but it will take out what isn’t for you which may hurt a little bit but it’s what’s meant to be,” JB Copeland.  This is another reminder to let go what we are trying to make work in our lives.  Those things we think we need, the constant reminders, the stories we tell ourselves—if they are trying to leave, let them.  While we may define ourselves by that narrative (or any narrative) if it isn’t telling the truth, then it no longer wants us to attach to it.  We need to leave it there.

So many of us are taught that storms are meant to break us and that if we weather it and we come through relatively unscathed, we have succeeded.  They feel the point is to beat the storm. Not many discuss the cleansing of a storm.  We know rains bring sustenance to the Earth and help the plants grow, we know that water that falls from the sky gives life.  So why do we deny the storms in our lives?  Why do we not trust that this temporary downpour, these moments of hurt or whatever it may be, are there to tend healthier soil for us to grow from?  When we let the excess wash away, we are left with what is necessary.  Sometimes all we need is what’s necessary.  We spend so much time battening down the hatches, preparing for any scenario that we don’t realize how we are burdened with the fears of what we may lose.  Sometimes we need to lose what we don’t need to appreciate and understand what we have.  We need to lose it so we use what we do need to the fullest.  Not everything is meant to last forever, as much as we wish it could.  Eternal only exists in the mind and spirit, not necessarily in the physical.

So when storms hit, instead of fearing what we are losing, appreciate what we have and what we are learning.  Know we will not be left empty even if our hands are barren and weak, even if the prospects seem bleak.  Strength isn’t about not breaking, it’s about bending.  It’s about getting creative, telling a new story, understanding in a new way.  Strength is understanding that there may be something we didn’t see happening and the washing of the weather is meant to take away that ick we don’t see.  It can hurt, as Copeland says, it can hurt to lose something we’ve attached to, but it hurts more to hang on to something we need to release.  We aren’t meant to stay in one place, meant to carry all things, meant to hold everything of every experience we’ve had all at once.  We need to let go.  We need to embrace the idea that we are part of something so much bigger and we don’t need to direct the sea, just our ship in it.  Let the storms come and go, let them cleanse our soul.  Let the hurt wash over and away.  It all fades and we see a new day and are left with exactly what we need, a little more flexible, a little wiser, and able to weather whatever comes our way.