You should not resent the storms.
Last year, I was enrolled in a course that focused on the theological perspectives of different cultures. In those courses, I like to consider myself momentarily interested — I read the material and think about it enough to pass the class, but I don’t love those courses.
However, one concept in particular sticks out to me and I find it even more appropriate during a time like today when a part of the world has just been hit with a natural disaster.
The concept was mentioned throughout our study of Native American religious beliefs (did you know that they do not have a word for religion, instead they just refer to it as a “way to live”) and to paraphrase, the woman interviewed said that in their culture, they were taught not to resent nature. She discussed how even the thunderstorms that destroyed their teepees and scared their children were valued as much as the soft rains that made their food grow.
Granted, it’s easier to say that from the comforts of my apartment then if I were finding myself homeless now in Haiti, but, the idea doesn’t just apply to natural disasters — it applies to all disasters. Even the ones we create for ourselves.
At the end of the day, we can either focus on the disaster, we can resent the earth, the elements, or ourselves for having “gotten us into this mess” or we can turn our focus on resolution.
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This is a really good point. We all find ourselves in a fix from time to time, but that’s what makes life an interesting and compelling challenge. It’s good to have obstacles, so long as we are willing to overcome and learn from them. A lack of adversity leads to complacency.
To make a stronger point, combine this notion with the quote by George Santayana (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Santayana), the one that everybody has heard at some point, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” When you face a challenge and overcome it, it’s easy to take the experience for granted. Instead, tack it on to your internal log book. Remember how you found the resolution, and how you were better off for it.