Driving Through Lightning
June 1969
My mother and I drove across country when she was 56 and I was 21. We were
going to visit the family farm in Wisconsin before my wedding. As we drove through
Nebraska, the clouds darkened and it started raining heavily. Lightning came straight
down into the fields all around us. I’d never been so close to grounded lightning. It
was loud, powerful and startling. I was so afraid it would hit our car. We were in the
middle of nowhere with no place to take shelter. We had to keep driving through the
storm; we had no choice. I remember my mother saying “Isn’t this just beautiful?” I
thought she was crazy! How could something so dangerous be beautiful? At first I
thought maybe she was just saying that to try to ease my fears, but later I realized
that she was indeed enjoying the ride through lightning. She was less than 5 feet
tall, Irish, and full of electrical energy herself, so she enjoyed the excitement of the
storm. I wish now that I’d been better able to see the storm through her eyes at that
time.
Mom and I were in totally different places in our lives; she, in her fifties, wanting to
spend some quality time alone with her daughter before she left home, and me,
twenty-one, just wanting to get married and move into my own home. I didn’t
understand how important that time was for her. I wish I had.
Now I’m struck, (get it struck?) by the symbolism of driving through a storm and trying
to enjoy it. We are all taking a road trip through our life and sometimes we feel
exposed and scared with what is happening around us.
Sometimes we can’t do anything but keep our heads down and keep moving, for the
storm just seems too huge to go around. As the song says, “can’t go under it, can’t
go over it, can’t go around it, gotta go through it.” It’s how we choose to react to
those storms; we can see the beauty or we can hold our breath and hope it’s over
soon. For those times when you can’t change your circumstances immediately, try to
see some beauty around you anyway. At the same time, you are capable of using
some of that energy around you by making life changes so that you are ready when
the storm subsides.
We can experience the storm and learn from it, or we could just go through the storm
and be unchanged.
We could lose the experience completely if we spend energy just trying to avoid the
storm altogether.
Every decision we make during this lifetime involves gains and losses. And to make
no decision at all, well, that is a decision as well.
We can choose how we will respond to the unexpected and expected changes
coming our way. Then we can begin to make plans for moving forward with some
control.
I hope you will appreciate the lightning and rain as well as the sunshine and light
breezes as you travel your path.
If you have life storms or planned life changes coming your way and you need clarity
on how you want to deal with the changes and decisions, call me. Let's talk and get
you moving in the direction that feels right for you.
June 1969
My mother and I drove across country when she was 56 and I was 21. We were
going to visit the family farm in Wisconsin before my wedding. As we drove through
Nebraska, the clouds darkened and it started raining heavily. Lightning came straight
down into the fields all around us. I’d never been so close to grounded lightning. It
was loud, powerful and startling. I was so afraid it would hit our car. We were in the
middle of nowhere with no place to take shelter. We had to keep driving through the
storm; we had no choice. I remember my mother saying “Isn’t this just beautiful?” I
thought she was crazy! How could something so dangerous be beautiful? At first I
thought maybe she was just saying that to try to ease my fears, but later I realized
that she was indeed enjoying the ride through lightning. She was less than 5 feet
tall, Irish, and full of electrical energy herself, so she enjoyed the excitement of the
storm. I wish now that I’d been better able to see the storm through her eyes at that
time.
Mom and I were in totally different places in our lives; she, in her fifties, wanting to
spend some quality time alone with her daughter before she left home, and me,
twenty-one, just wanting to get married and move into my own home. I didn’t
understand how important that time was for her. I wish I had.
Now I’m struck, (get it struck?) by the symbolism of driving through a storm and trying
to enjoy it. We are all taking a road trip through our life and sometimes we feel
exposed and scared with what is happening around us.
Sometimes we can’t do anything but keep our heads down and keep moving, for the
storm just seems too huge to go around. As the song says, “can’t go under it, can’t
go over it, can’t go around it, gotta go through it.” It’s how we choose to react to
those storms; we can see the beauty or we can hold our breath and hope it’s over
soon. For those times when you can’t change your circumstances immediately, try to
see some beauty around you anyway. At the same time, you are capable of using
some of that energy around you by making life changes so that you are ready when
the storm subsides.
We can experience the storm and learn from it, or we could just go through the storm
and be unchanged.
We could lose the experience completely if we spend energy just trying to avoid the
storm altogether.
Every decision we make during this lifetime involves gains and losses. And to make
no decision at all, well, that is a decision as well.
We can choose how we will respond to the unexpected and expected changes
coming our way. Then we can begin to make plans for moving forward with some
control.
I hope you will appreciate the lightning and rain as well as the sunshine and light
breezes as you travel your path.
If you have life storms or planned life changes coming your way and you need clarity
on how you want to deal with the changes and decisions, call me. Let's talk and get
you moving in the direction that feels right for you.
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Gail Brokaw, MA, CC Life and Career Coaching lifecoach@embracethepossibility.org Elk Grove, CA (916) 205-8041 |
Copyright © 2008 Gail Brokaw and
Embrace The Possibility Life Coaching
Embrace The Possibility Life Coaching