Cup of Inspiration

This is the quote in my Franklin planner this morning, September 5^th:

• “Storms make oaks take deeper root.” – George Herbert

It is perfectly normal to desire sunny days. We enjoy those moments when everything is going according to plan. When the job is going well, everyone is healthy, home is safe and secure, and we can sit back and hope that tomorrow will be the same.

However, as we know, tomorrow may very well not be the same. We never know when something will happen at work beyond our control, which may impact that promotion, or even our employment. We never know when we may hear some dreaded news after a doctor’s appointment. Our home can be taken after just one bad storm.

We can certainly try to prepare for these potential circumstances. We can eat healthily and exercise to improve our health. We can keep up maintenance in our homes and take measures to make it stronger in a storm. We can work hard at work to prove our value to the company. While we can try to soften the blow of a storm in the future, however, we cannot prevent all storms from occurring. Just as we can’t stop a tornado from hitting our house, we can’t stop all storms in life from hitting us and our loved ones.

When one of life’s storms does hit, take stock of what happened and where you are. If a storm hits your house, you will survey the damage, assess what’s lost and what can be salvaged, and then set a plan to move forward. The same applies to when one of life’s storms hits. If a storm has swept through your professional life, remember that not all is lost. Assess what you have. What skills have you learned over the years? Who do you have in your network? What has been lost? Have you lost a job that perhaps wasn’t a dream job, but you were comfortable? Was that comfort holding you back, and perhaps the storm has swept away a barrier to you pursuing your dream job?

If the storm appears to have taken away your dream job, what can you do differently when you rebuild? Are there skills that you can attain that will help prevent another storm from taking so much away? Do you now know the warning signs that can help you foresee the next storm so you can better prepare?

We cannot stop life’s storms from making an impact. We can, however, embrace the lessons learned to lessen the impact of a future storm. A tree will grow its roots deeper to help sustain in the next storm. Look at how you will stay grounded when the next life storm appears.