“LIFE IS NOT ABOUT WAITING FOR THE STORM TO PASS, ITS ABOUT LEARNING TO DANCE IN THE RAIN”
I saw those words painted on a piece of wood in a shop recently. There was no author mentioned, but I can tell you the person who penned those words had suffered much to gain this realization. How true it is that we cannot sanely wait for the storms of our lives to pass – it may take weeks, months, years! While we must go through the suffering and agony of terminal illness, death of loved ones, separation, divorce, job loss, teenage rebellion, etc. we must learn to dance in the rain!
Ive been through quite a few storms in my own life, and Ive realized that laughter can make the trying times bearable. I remember coming home from school and laying in bed next to my mom,( who was dying of cancer), and laughing together about the silly stuff that went on at school that day. She knew about dancing in the rain, she loved a good laugh and was often seen throwing her head back in laughter! We werent making light of her situation, we were simply taking the focus off her impending death, and enjoying a good laugh! It does the heart good!
Through our storm of financial struggles, we have found ways to dance in the rain. In our college years weve gone so far as to move the copy machines in the library to gather up the change that fell to the floor – then use that money to by Jamocha shakes from Arbys! Weve gone into a Pizza Hut to see if theyd sell us 1 slice of pizza, and while waiting we noticed a family leaving half of a pizza on the table – so we (being college students), quickly grabbed up the pizza and ate it ourselves, while only ordering water to drink. The waitress was glad she didnt have to throw out the pizza! In our married life we waited to go see a minor league baseball game until the Get in Free and Hot Dog Free Night occured. Dinner and entertainment for the whole family, FREE! Weve chosen to dance instead of sit and feel sorry for ourselves – nothing gets accomplished that way!
Even in the storms that relationships can bring, and some of these storms can be lengthy, remember to dance! Treat the other person with the utmost respect – even if they dont deserve it. Be forgiving and ask for forgiveness. We are all suffering with one storm or another, and there will be more to come – so be flexible and resilient. Naomi Judd wrote a little book called, The Transparent Life , I highly recommend this book!
Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it is about learning to dance in the rain! Get good at dancing!