Thursday, August 1, 2013

Between Storms


No matter who you are or what you do, there’s always gonna be something uncomfortable poppin up. The wonderful thing about these turmoils is that nothing lasts forever. A solution’s gonna come ya’ll, the problem is gonna be resolved at some point, and we’re gonna be blessed as a result.  All that’s good when we get to that point. However, the quandary that must be addressed is:  “What do we do in the meantime?”  If I’m in pain right now, be it mental, physical, emotional or whatever; the last thing I want to hear is “Don’t worry, it’s gon be alright.”  What I want to hear is how do I get this thing off me. Now I ain’t talking about finding comfort tomorrow, I’m talking about finding it yesterday. Well, into each life some rain must fall, so let’s see how we can go about opening an umbrella when it comes.

You’ve heard the story of the scorpion and the frog I’m sure, but allow me, if you will, an opportunity to reiterate it. There was this huge storm, you dig, and the flooding had moved the woodland creatures to the other side of the river. During the aftermath, a scorpion approaches a frog and requests that the frog allow him to hitch a ride on its back as it swims to the other side. To this request the frog responds, “If I give you a ride on my back you could sting me and I’d die.”  To which the scorpion replies, “That would be stupid on my part, because if I did that we’d both drown and I want to live. “  Reluctantly the frog gives in but, to its surprise, as soon as they touch down on the other side the scorpion stings him. The frog gasps and says, “I did what you requested, how could you sting me after what I’ve done for you?” To which the scorpion responds, “I’m a scorpion. That’s what we do.”  

The bottom line is that what happens to us is really not the heart of the matter, no matter how serious it may seem.  What is most important is how we respond to the situation that we were confronted with. You see people are going to be who they are,  and until they have a spiritual awakening of some sort, they’re going to continue to do what they do. That’s why we’re equipped with the umbrellas of patience, tolerance, and understanding so that we can open them when people who are in a storm coerce us into getting into it with them. You see, it’s only with these umbrellas that we can discern how we’re gonna get out of those storms..

Now I’m not saying that all people that have played a role in our dilemmas purposefully did so to cause us harm, nor am I saying that we’re stupid for allowing ourselves to get stung. What I am saying is that whatever comes to pass in our lives, there’s going to be some consequences, so we must prepare ourselves for the fallout. The longer we live, the more we experience the storms of life. The idea is to learn how to weather these storms. When somebody asks you to do something you don’t want to do, don’t do it. I know you love them but give them a chance to learn how to weather their own storm, and remember that you don’t have to stay in it with them to do so. If somebody accuses you of doing something that you didn’t do, or of being something or somebody you know you ain’t, don’t go back and forth with them. I know you want them to think well of you, but where they are right now, is trying to push your button cause they ain’t feeling good about themselves and their own situation. So just shut your mouth, put up your umbrella up and let them do what they do till they get tired. Don’t get mad cause they’re all up in your video. After all Froggie, you’re the one who let them in. On the other hand, if you’re playing the scorpion role right now, understand that although the story didn’t speak about what happened, we already know that other storms were on the way and that, at some point, the scorpion was definitely going to have to pay for the harm it caused and, at some point, so will you.

It’s life ya’ll and the sun shines every day despite the clouds, and the storms that follow. It’s a joy when you can see the sun, but what we need to work on is what to do when we don’t see it. We’re gonna be who we are, and we’re gonna do what we do, but let’s remember that every discomfort we experience is an opportunity to look at ourselves and possibly alter the way we look at and deal with what’s going on around us. It’s what we do during the storms that determine how much sunshine we experience between them.


I’ll holla.


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