“Life’s not about waiting for the storms to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.”
I climbed up the stairs to the top of my parking garage, my breath just starting to come back. The sun was setting into a rain cloud and the world embodied warmth as clouds high and low were lit golden instead of their normal gray. The rain was cool and bright and the concrete still warm from the Florida sun. For a few minutes, I spun around splashing in the puddles. I felt energized and exhausted all at once. My spinning stopped when I noticed the rainbow that formed on the other horizon. I laughed – I couldn’t help it. On an evening I thought I would look back on with sorrow, the evening I knew that all attempts to save my marriage had failed, I instead felt nothing but beauty, joy and freedom. I was not alone. I would get through this season. And I would be better for it.
October marks the start of fall. We say goodbye to the sweltering heat of summer (kind of). The days get shorter and the months busier as they fill with holidays, gatherings and family. Before we know it, we’ll be ringing in another year at midnight.
This time of year comes with space for reflection and gratitude. For TeamStrength, this is the time of year we celebrate everything our members and their companies achieved throughout 2022. Whether it was a record year, a challenging year or a transitional one. And we shift to visioning new goals and achievements with 2023 Letter Drafts.
It’s also a time for personal reflection. What season of your life are you in right now? Perhaps it is a time of change, at times uncomfortable but full of new opportunities and new beginnings. Or maybe it is time of trials, with challenges and hard work directly ahead. You may be feeling centered and balanced or perhaps you’re struggling to find your footing.
Whatever your season, there is always one promise that you can count on – this time will not last. Reflect and rediscover the things you appreciate about this period in your life, the things that bring you joy. And take time to come up with strategies for mitigating the blocks weighing on you. Look for places you can let go of expectations that are no longer serving you or the people around you. And find moments of peace and patience wherever you can when the going gets rough.
Good or bad, this time in your life is fleeting. Like a wave crashing on the shore – beautiful and powerful and sometimes unpleasant – soon the water will calm and rejoin the ocean, as this moment fits into the bigger picture of your life.
The warmth of that rainy sunset memory stayed with me through the challenging months of change that followed the ending of my marriage. And that same warmth spilled out a year and three months later as I was enjoying a quiet Florida sunset on the water at Hillstone, when I shared the story with the man I love. And suddenly the winding roads made sense.
In 2021, retired Lt. Col. Scott Mann reminded us of the power of stories and being vulnerable with others to truly connect. So, share your story and take time to celebrate and support each other, whatever season you may be in right now. And thank you, for letting Susan and I be a part of it.