This has been a week of gratitude for me. I live in Boulder, Colorado and we’ve just experienced what has been called “The 100 Year Flood”.
While my family and I are fine, some of my friends are experiencing a little bit more devastation. The photo to the right is of the road into our home.
It doesn’t rain very often in Boulder. Forest fires are our main concern, so the rainy summer was a blessing.
But then came the monsoon.
We had five days of continuous rain, filling our culverts and overflowing the banks of our rivers.
The streams have become torrents and the rivers are raging, boiling forces of destruction.
As I’ve gone about my week, I continually remind myself to stay away from the energies of fear and panic.
There are plenty of pictures and videos that graphically portray the devastation. You’ve all seen flood pictures before. You know what it’s like. But what has become apparent to me this past week is the resiliency of community.
Neighbors are helping neighbors. We are caring for each other. We help each other rip out soaked basement carpeting, share community meals by candle light, and revel in the feel of warmth and closeness that disasters sometimes generate.
We know that houses are just wood and steel, and while expensive to rebuild, they can and will be fixed. Roads will be put back together whether we are in panic mode or quiet mode.
We have a choice, every minute of every day. We may not be able to control the weather, but we can choose how we react to it. I am the only one who can determine how I experience an event.
I can focus on the destruction, or I can focus on the positivity. I can focus on what I have lost, or I can focus on what I still have.
I choose the lens through which I see the situation – and I choose gratitude, love and community.