Riding Out The Storm

“Into each life, some rain must fall.”

I heard that expression from my mother a lot growing up. It was often coupled with “Life is not fair,” “This too shall pass,” and other words of tacit acceptance for the difficult events in life none of us can change.

I imagine many people in the Northeastern portions of the United States are saying these things right now, immediately followed by prayers for the rain to stop -- literally and figuratively.

The devastation from Superstorm Sandy left unprecedented changes in its wake. The physical landscapes of cities, towns and beaches were altered forever. The flow of commerce and transportation was interrupted. Above all, the storm left an indelible mark on millions of lives, each one as individual and unique as a fingerprint.

When we witness destruction and pain on such a massive scale, it is easy to think that such devastating losses are confined to huge events and large numbers of people at once.  We forget that life altering events and unimaginable loss happen in our lives every day.

• The car that comes out of nowhere and causes a fatal accident.
• The unanticipated health issue that suddenly puts an expiration date on someone’s  existence.
• The electrical short circuit that burns a home to the ground, along with the life inside it.
• The random act of violence that ends an innocent life.

If you look honestly at your own life, it won’t take you more than 5 minutes to remember an event that changed it forever. None of us are immune to tragedy and pain. Loss and suffering are not unique, whether they are caused by a natural disaster or something else.

What IS unique is how you choose to move forward, survive and rebuild your life.

• Do you allow hope to buoy our spirits or get bogged down in despair over what you’ve lost?
• Do you reach out to help others whose losses are greater than our own?
• Are you grateful for what you still have?

In the coming days, everyone affected by Sandy will grapple with these questions. I have faith the stories of their responses will be even more memorable than the tales of their losses. Because the beauty of rain is that it doesn’t last forever -- and the sun always looks brighter after the storm passes.