Of Gratitude & Perspective

Gray days are my favorites. It's been a popular color in the sky here lately. We haven't had too many crazy thunderstorms. It's not monsooning by any means, it's just always gray... and now the writer inside of me is going to create a metaphor with this whole thing. I love my loved ones (obviously). And when I have to witness them go through HUGE seemingly insurmountable obstacles in life it's hard and I want to help, but I know that ultimately it's up to them to figure out a way through it. My heart goes out even more to those that seem to always be dealing with something. Just the small everyday things that are so overwhelming that they can't seem to stay above the water level...

My great-grandfather lives with us. He is the most optimistic person I have ever met in my life. In every memory I have of him he's always laughing, joking, smiling, dancing, singing, whistling, yodeling (yup, my great-grandfather yodels! Isn't he adorable?), or sleeping... he does a lot of that too. Looking at him now, it's hard for me to imagine him when he was in a dark and difficult place with choices to make.

Today I went outside to throw some trash into the can. It smelled awful and needed to go. On our porch swing was my great-grandfather swinging away and sipping on a beer. We had a short exchange and then he started talking about the weather people. I love my great-grandfather but he spends a lot of time talking about nothing so sometimes (I know, I know I'm a terrible human being) I just nod and mostly ignore him. I was getting ready to head back inside when I heard him say looking towards the cloudy sky, "Those weather people don't know what they're talking about. Calling for rain. They were saying it's going to be a dreary day. It's a be-YOU-tiful day. I'm enjoying the sunshine!" And then he tilted his face up to the sky trying to soak up the few rays futilely trying to peak through. I smiled and looked up as well completely agreeing.

Walking inside I considered what he had said and how what we saw and what the rest of everyone else in the world saw were totally different. It's the same sky, but different perspectives. Everyone can look at a thunderstorm and agree on it. I mean, let's call a spade a spade, ya know? But when the grey is there, and it decided to have an extended stay our perspective and ability to rise though our situation is not what we would have chosen for ourselves is an amazing attribute that closely resembles resilience. Sometimes we have gray skies in our lives and there's nothing that can be done. Walking around without an umbrella in the rain doesn't change the fact that it's raining. But when it's gray we don't need to walk around with an umbrella waiting for the storm. And should it start to get a bit darker than we think we can handle, it's so worth making the effort to learn to love it. Gray is a great color. :)

The next thing I wanted to express in this entry is gratitude. Coming back from my mission, I've said this before, was hard. But, nevertheless and notwithstanding, I can now say that the heavens totally know what's up and what's going on. Today I was blessed with some new employment opportunities. I'm hoping and faith filled that it will all pan out exactly the way it's supposed to be (with a lotta bit of effort on my end, of course. :) ).

Hey, it's raining...
(http://www.pinterest.com/pin/186547609540056333/)

(http://www.pinterest.com/pin/404479610257017139/)

Affectionately Damp,
Kate :)