Storms

They always say that things come in three. When we meet a misfortune, expect that there will be two more to come. I wanted to ignore this but I had been seeing a pattern in mine and in my friends' lives.

When a storm comes, we dread the consequences it brings to life. The loss of our home, the havoc it might wreak on properties and crops.

The coming of a storm shows strength and the magnitude of its power comes as no surprise. Some may bring heavy rains but others create tornadoes.

When I was still a student, the coming of a storm was a celebratory event since we knew that the stronger the wind and rains were, the chances of having no school was likely. I also remembered my mom's and dad's faces when a storm was about to come, worried and forlorn, since the storm was and still is a serious matter.

The presence of a storm makes us prepare. We seek for shelter. We run for safety. We look for help. We pray incessantly. We feel threatened at that moment and hoping that the storm will bring less destruction. In life, problems arise from our own wrongdoing or from outside. It is the now that we feel threatened rather than the before, but it is the aftermath that we hope for less destruction.

We always have flooding in our house during a big typhoon. Our store is right at the ground floor of our house so for every foreseen flooding, we are then lifting heavy things to higher grounds. I remember lining the stairs with boxes and boxes of metal things from our hardware shop. After the storm, the clean up is a drag and so does putting the things back to their places. 

The presence of a storm shows the resilience in us. Whether we will take it as a curse or as a challenge to continue with our journey. The presence is a manifestation of something stronger which is a test. Only those who prepare can battle such foe.

With the coming of a storm, we make sure that we have dry food in our house. We make sure that we have safe drinking water. There had been many instances that we all huddle together to pray, to reconnect, to reconcile our indifferences with stories and genial conversations. The presence of the storm gave us something to bond. Our property might be beaten up by the battle but not the relationship we have for each other.

The passing of the storm is simply a reminder that things do not go on forever. It is constant change. It's here and gone tomorrow. In life, we feel down at times but with some support, we will continue to see tomorrow and live.

And as we go on with our everyday dealings after the storm, its passing is like a paintbrush that made colours and lines to our simple vivacity. A bit of distress was felt but it became an assurance. A rattling noise was made but it became our toiled bells for action. A chaos was encountered but it became a way to see and do things and do them as a family.