In what ways have the storms in life transformed me?

The storms and trials of life have honed me. I like this word as it implies a slightly different affect than ‘worn.’ For even in the darkest tragedies I have experienced, with distance of time and actual geography, I have undeniably been given the opportunity to be made the better for it.

How precisely? Some themes include knowing my structural weak points, finding where I need to get outside supports. Learning the tidal aspect of possessions, that they flow through, like inventory in retail. So I no longer mourn the loss of ‘stuff’ as much as I have in the past. The inevitable truth that things have endings, people have limits, sufferings cease and so the artful goodbye, and the little ways all these times of difficulty tend to be preparing me for the last letting go.

And like in real storms, in the midst of it, when the wind is screaming and chaos rules, the lights are out, and dangers seems everywhere, I get very real. And once one experiences that core depth of their essence it is hard to forget afterwards, And so while I am always grateful for surviving such times, I am also reminded of who I am.