When I am being shaken by life,
When I believe it's me against the world and I'm being emotionally and spiritually attacked on all fronts,
I imagine a tree in a thunderstorm.
I imagine the rain and the wind relentlessly drenching the trees and all her leaves,
Her hundreds of leaves,
Constantly moving in all directions,
Wild with no reason.
I imagine a branch of the tree breaking,
An important branch that added character to the tree,
The branch the tree was known for,
Gone forever just like that.
I imagine the wind whispering some of the leaves away prematurely before the stillness of fall,
Gone before it was time,
Before the season of letting go.
And then I imagine the tree's roots and how they are sheltered and out of the way.
They are not directly affected by the storm and if they are,
They benefit by getting more water and nutrients,
Almost like the storm was needed for their nourishment and the tree had to take the hits,
The heavy blows,
The pressure to receive the gift.
So when I'm being hit and life is coming at me with all her trials and obligations and mean words and closed doors and unanswered calls,
I just imagine I am a tree.
I imagine how many storms a actual tree experiences in all her years or even something more delicate like a plant or a flower or anything of life that doesn't necessarily have a mouth to explain the cycles of life,
The trials of life.
In nature,
Storms are necessary.
They give summer water,
They cool the earth,
They clean the air.
Lightning balances the earth's electricity and helps fertilize the soil.
Therefore storms begin new life.
Storms make the sunny days brighter,
The roots stronger and the branches even more magnificent for men and women to bow in its presence.
Storms my dear ones are conduits for growth.
Thank you for your listening.
