Weathering the Storm

Saturday was a windy day in Connecticut. Tempestuous winds howled unrelentingly through the canopy of trees, ebbing and flowing, the gusts building and receding, not directing which way the trees would bend, just that they will. There was no choice, no escape, everything rooted in place at the wind’s racing mercy. At times, the wind whistled through the branches, at others with the symphony in the treetops, the leaves clattering together like rain in a crescendo, building, building till….nothing, a moment of rest. Watching the impending storm thrash through the treetops got me to thinking; are we too rigid to bend when the winds of life pick up and threaten to dislodge us from our place of comfort? Or will we bend and sway, submitting without collapse?

The solid oak has one of the most dense, hard woods in the forest. Yet for all its strength, it has the ability to move with the wind, to sway without falling, its roots holding firm, only shedding the dead wood and detritus so that new growth can flourish. So must we model ourselves after the might oak. We must sink our roots deep, but be willing to shed off that which holds us back. That is much easier said than done, but we will all experience times when it feels it might be easier to lay down, to fall over, and submit to the storm around us, to bury our heads, let the leaves swirl around us and slowly decompose us away. Yet the oak takes its time sending down its roots, just as it takes work for us to weather any storm that comes our way. Our roots are our coping mechanisms, our support around us, our knowledge that all storms pass eventually and the sun will come out at some point. And in the forest, the oaks that grow together and form their tight canopy have a better chance of surviving the storm than does the lone oak in the middle of the field.

It’s about who we surround ourselves with as well. If we choose those that will support us and stand through the storm by our side, we are kept aloft and held firm. If you ever noticed an area where a microburst has come through, there might be an oak down here or there, a few larger branches lost to the sudden downward thrust of wind, but generally they will stand strong still. Yet, the soft pine tree, those would topple like bowling pins at the hands of a master bowler. We should always strive to be like the oak, send our roots deep, build strong morals and ethics, and surround ourselves with likeminded individuals, those who will weather the storm with us, even if its not their storm to weather. Unlike the oak, if we find ourselves more like a pine tree, we can change course, we can work towards becoming an oak and thrive amidst adversity. Life isn’t always sunny days in the park or laying on the beach with warm sand sifting between our toes. We need to be ready for those stormy days that threaten to take us down.