In the midst of all that has been going on in my life in the last month, I got reintroduced to a great quote that hit me squarely right between the eyes. “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about dancing in the rain.”  I have read that at least 50 times this week.

 So many times when I get under stress and have lots of anxiety, I hold my breath, put my head down, and plow forward with very focused and limited vision.  As a result of that style of moving forward, I miss so much.  That is metaphorically “holding my breath and waiting for the storm to pass.”  This way of dealing with stress does work…….I just miss so much in the process.  One of the great examples of this was last year when I was taking my daughter up to school and loading and unloading all her clothes, furnishings, etc., I was moaning about how hot it was, how much work it was, hurrying the process so we could just get through with all this work and she turned to me and said “You know Dad, you will miss this when you don’t have to do this anymore.”……….she was so right.  After the weekend was over and I was making that long drive home from Fort Worth by myself, I truly got what she was saying.  I had waves of sadness come over me when I thought that I would no longer get to help her move and be part of her life that way.

So the list of things to do is long and I am right in the middle of one of the biggest change storms of my life and I just signed up for dance lessons from my daughter.  She is cooking us lunch, we have a wonderful day of packing ahead of us, driving to Fort Worth tomorrow, and I am choosing to dance in the rain, even though there is not a cloud in sight.