How to Appreciate Thunderstorms (part one)

I’m sitting on the porch watching the sky grow dark.

The thunder is rolling, knocking against itself as the lightning begins.

When I was little, my family would all gather out on our enclosed porch for thunderstorms. I’m the (very) youngest of four siblings, and at the time, I wasn’t a big fan of thunderstorms. I’m just enough behind my brothers that by the time they had gained an appreciation for storms, I still thought that if I ran fast enough, I wouldn’t hear the thunder.

The thunder is getting louder, and the lightning more frequent.

The sky is turning a strange color, and the wind is picking up. I can smell the rain, though it hasn’t started yet. The temperature has dropped.

Here it comes! [to be continued…]

Something About It

Now, like my brothers, I too have gained an appreciation for thunderstorms. It’s one of my favorite things to do. And if we’re standing on the shore of a Great Lake, it’s even better. There’s just something so awesome about watching storms roll in!

We use the metaphor of a storm quite often in life. Proverbial “storms” happen—life gets turned upside down, there’s loud, disorienting noise all around you, lightning strikes and zaps your power, and everything is wet. Sounds like a party, right?

Unfortunately, sometimes we can’t see those storms coming. Sometimes we can, but in the storms of life, we don’t always have that luxury.

But what if we did?

If we were able to watch them come, I’m convinced that we wouldn’t watch in excitement, but in fear. We would worry, probably not even doing anything to prepare for it. The dark clouds would come, and all we would be able to think about is how bad it’s going to be.

But what would happen if we chose to be excited about storms? Not in a morbid way, but in a what-doesn’t-kill-you-makes-you-stronger kind of way.

What if we saw the storm coming, and positively reminded ourselves that the lightning would bring nutrients, the rain would make our grass greener, and the wind would push our roots to get deeper? (I’m still looking for a good purpose for thunder.)

I realize this may sound trite, and I don’t want to discount the damage storms incur. I just know that I need help thinking optimistically sometimes. What do you think?