The Lack of Storms

Michaele AlexanderThoughts on Things

In the middle of listening to someone address an unrelated topic I was struck by an enlightening thought. Years ago when I used to travel with some frequency to London the skies would clear and it would become strangely sunny. The rare fog seemed to me more akin to what we had occasionally in Malibu, something novel and lifting by late morning. My friends would joke with me about it. “Could you come and bring the good weather with you?”

What I realized was that for quite some period of time I had fallen into a lazy pattern of reacting to life’s storms. As a consequence, since my family is in the same boat with me, we had all been tethered to the mast or looking for citrus to make lemonade when other directions might perhaps have been sought. I had brought them along into many patches of doldrums and rough seas that could or even should have been avoided.

My husband and I refer to these fanciful bits of weather as OPE’s (Other People’s Emergencies). Not that it had been all hail and downpour by any stretch of the imagination, but I was engaged in “battening down the hatches” for impending or existing external tempests for a bit too long. Which, upon contemplation, was just busy work. Rearranging the deck chairs while looking at different scenery as it floated past rather than plotting a defined course to a more fulfilling destination.

The wind filled my sails as I took in fully that though it is most excellent to be of assistance to others it does not require us to become soaked in the dramatic weather surrounding many situations wanting of improvement. I am glad to say suddenly borne from out of a fog of amnesia arose a clear memory of how much I enjoy “Bringing the Sunshine With Me”. And as such, it was time to get comfortable with the umbrella placed firmly in its stand yet again.