One warm and humid day in Brazil, my friend and I were walking along a dirt road. In front of us was a beautiful blue sky. We were unaware that behind us, storm clouds began to gather. Things began to get a little darker and we turned around to see a storm forming. We continued our conversation as we walked while occasionally looking backward to keep an eye on the storm. We had just crested a hill when we heard the sound of falling water. We turned around and I saw something I had never before seen in my life having grown up in a dry and arid mountain desert. Above my head was blue sky but I was looking at a black cloud rapidly heading our way. From this cloud fell a wall of water. This was not the summer rain drops I was used to. This was a literal sheet of water pouring from the sky. It was beautiful and amazing and scary at the same time.
My friend and I began to run down the hill in an attempt to out run the storm. We were running fast. We had run from chasing stray dogs before but this run was a full sprint. A wall of water hit us just as we ducked under the canopy of a street side grocery shop. In an instant we were soaked. The sound of the water was deafening as it poured from the sky determined to break through the sheet of tin now protecting us. We looked at each other panting and smiling. There is a paradox with rain. Rain helps things grow and the world is dependent upon rain for life but it can also soak us to the bone while walking a dirt road or keep us in a tent during a rainy camping trip. Too much rain creates flooding while not enough creates droughts. It can be a nuisance unless we choose to view the rain as a blessing. Each of us has had our lives turned around because of this virus. I am in awe of the health care workers on the front lines. I spoke with a neighbor who is a nurse who related what she has been going through. She has felt the stress and anxiety that has come with this. I am in awe of the teachers who have adapted to a new method of teaching from a distance because they believe that through all of this our children should still be learning. Many of them are parents and are doing double duty. I read a text from one of these wonder teachers about the stress and anxiety that has come with this. I am in awe of the parents who are working from home, keeping children motivated and entertained and doing things without breaks. I know they are having feelings of stress and anxiety that have come with this. I am in awe of struggling business owners who are feeling the stress and anxiety of temporarily closing their businesses knowing rent is still due. I am in awe of those who go to work to provide essential services to us so we can continue to eat and be safe putting them in a daily potential for exposure. I have read accounts of the stress and anxiety of these workers. Most of all I am in awe of those who fall in many of these groups – the stress and anxiety is multiplied. All of this we are going through can be a nuisance unless we choose to view it as a blessing. I have seen more of my children in the past week and a half than I have seen in months. I get to spend more time with my spouse. We get to do things together because we don’t have anywhere else to be. We play games. We watch a favorite show together. We worship together as a family and are drawing closer together while our learning is deeper because we are teaching. We have family chats and video calls with extended family to stay in touch much more often than we did B.V. (Before Virus) as we seek connection. All of these are blessings. There are stresses. There is anxiety. We may break down and cry once and awhile as we are overwhelmed with hard things. We can’t do everything but we can do anything. Getting through this will happen. Looking for the good wherever we find it and recognizing the blessings in the storm can help us stay positive and deal with our stress and anxiety. At the end of this, we may end up soaked and panting but we will be smiling.
1 Comment
Cicero
4/1/2020 05:32:13 pm
Passamos uma situação semelhante que tomamos um grande banho naquele início de noite em Curitiba.
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PurposeThis blog allows you to experience the raw, gut wrenching drama of human conflict through accounting in each of its three stages: preparing to do battle, the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Archives
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