Sooner or later, each of us will have times in life when it feels like nothing is going our way.  Bad things happen to even the best of people.  In those moments, it often feels like nothing will ever be the same again.  Perhaps that is true… but perhaps that is not a bad thing.  Each moment that occurs in life, we learn and grow and change in unimagined ways.  Life is a process of Becoming… we become the person that we are through the experiences we have, both good and bad. 

I found this quote a timely reminder that just as the sun hides behind dark clouds on a rainy day, happiness is at times overshadowed by our troubles.  But if we are patient, behind those dark clouds lies a bright ever-shining sun that will emerge in time. Similarly, even in the difficult times, we can be reassured that as time passes, circumstances will change and we will discover happiness once again. I find this to be true in many ways… Oftentimes, I try to look at my everyday experiences and changing emotions as weather that changes and passes quickly. Underneath this weather, is a steady, unchanging “self” that remains the same, regardless of the weather. When I am going through something difficult, I try to do things that help me reconnect with that unchanging “self” and look past the weather of my everyday. For me, this can be simple things like a quiet walk on the beach, a few minutes spent in meditation, or a little time writing in a gratitude journal. Although it doesn’t chase all my troubles away, it helps to put things into perspective for me.

Behind Every Dark Cloud
-By Krista Longeway

Darkness has gathered in the distant sky
A powerful storm is brewing up high
Where the thick grey clouds go tumbling by
And the circling gulls no longer fly

The wind gathers up the dark clouds again
Quickly bringing with it cold sheets of rain
Fiercely pounding the fields of grass and grain
Where muddy pools of water now remain

The cold wind is blustery, wild and free
Gusting off of the waters on the sea
Fiercely bending branches on every tree
And touching something deep inside of me

I am the raging wind that gusts and roars
I am the endless rain that pounds and pours
I am the rolling waves upon the shores
I am this storm as I fight inner wars 

Just as I think this mighty storm has won
The wild wind subsides, and the rain is done
For behind every storm that has begun
Can be found a bright ever-shining sun