when it rains, it pours

Actually, that statement isn't entirely true. Anyone who has lived in SE Alaska or in the Northwest US (probably lots of other places where I've never been) knows that it can actually drizzle for days on end with no downpour at all.

(source)

But! there are places where truly, when it rains, it pours. We lived on Guam for 6 years and that was the case there - none of this misty, drizzly stuff ... bright, hot sunshine every single day with HUGE downpours every single day as well. It would be like buckets from heaven just dumping water all over us - for about 10 minutes, then it would be over and the sun would be out again.

(This is a picture from 1991 - when Typhoon Yuri came through ... we were on the island then, and I'll tell you - those typhoons are actually a bit more exciting than the daily downpour!)

So anway, I was thinking about some friends of mine today. Some friends who it seems to be drizzling on ... and on and on and on. And some who are currently getting poured on big-time.

In fact, in the midst of writing this I got a phone call from one of those friends: I couldn't believe it when she told me the reason of having to cancel our meeting - her purse had been stolen. with her iPad in it. just a couple of weeks ago her 1st iPad was stolen. But as she said, "there are WAY worse things in this world than having something stolen" ... and there are. So back to what I was saying: Life is hard. It's designed to be hard. That's how we grow and learn and become. It's a refining process. But this I also know: just as in Guam, most of the time the sun shines. It's sometimes easy to think only about the current downpour and the last downpour that happened only a day ago, and that tomorrow it's going to downpour again. But when we let that consume us, we forget to go out and enjoy the sun. And just like SE Alaska, sometimes there seems to be no sun at all ... just constant drizzle - nothing huge, but so constant that we get worn down. But anyone who has visited a place like that knows that there is no beauty that can compare with the lush rainforest and the prolific wildlife that exists because of that constant drizzle. When you can accept that you're going to get wet, and go out in it anyway, it is absolutely breathtaking - the beauty that's all around. So this message is for me, for my friends, for everyone:

Find the sun

and if it's hidden for days on end,

find the beauty!

It's there - I promise.