I was driving to my office today and noticed, as John Mayer was singing to me once again about heartbreak…big surprise there, that every day the same tree catches my eye. Now, I pass by a million trees every day but this one is different. This tree is regal. This tree might even be considered majestic. It’s huge and beautiful, and its trunk looks about as broad as the farm tractor that is creeping along in front of me, keeping me from traveling at a pace that’s even approaching the speed limit.

No, I don’t live on a farm. We have Starbucks, Wal-Mart, a mall, a slew of chain restaurants, and even a number of cafés where I can sip some tea and write these updates during my breaks from people watching. If you wanted to see a farm, however, I could show you one. Smack in the middle of this small but growing Midwest town is a whisper of something left behind from every decade this place has seen for the last hundred and fifty years. Two towns over the Amish still attempt to navigate their horses and buggies on the same streets with cars and delivery trucks, and only a few minutes away is Notre Dame and all the youthfulness and excitement that accompanies a college town. It’s actually quite strange.

I thought about the storms that tree has seen here during its lifetime. The Midwest can be very unforgiving when it comes to the weather. I imagined it enduring the wind, rain, snow, ice, hail, and extremes in heat and cold this area encounters. I saw it in my mind being tossed around as high winds and pelting rain have tried to bend it and break it in two. Through it all, it is still standing, still regal.

This made me think about the storms in my own life and in the lives of the people around me. Everyone seems to have them. Money problems, failing marriages, estranged relationships, troubled children, job stress, health challenges, death, loss, change, worry, fear, and the list could go on forever, and they all take their toll. These are the equivalent in our lives of the wind, rain, etc., that pummels the tree and tries to break it in half.

I wondered what I could learn from that tree. What did it have to teach me?

Does the tree begin to question its life during the storms? Is there something that the cosmos is trying to teach it? Is it being punished for its actions or thoughts? Is some force in the world picking on it or testing it, trying to make it a stronger or more obedient tree? I think we would have to agree on a big fat no here. The storms are just doing what they do. They are being storms. The tree can’t stop them, and they happen to all trees. No other tree is exempt. No other tree bears a bigger brunt of the storms. It’s just part of being a tree.

So what about my own storms? They come regardless of where I live, who I love, my religious beliefs, my political affiliations, my professional ties, and my family relationships. It doesn’t matter if I am a good person or a murderer, whether I am a Christian, Muslim, or Jew, or if I spend my life helping others or lying on my couch all day watching daytime TV. The storms are going to come.

And we all endure them. We cannot stop the storms. The only thing we can do is choose how to react to them. And if we pay close attention to the tree we might learn that we don’t even have to react at all. All we have to do is be flexible. The elements will rip at us, push us around, and try to tear us up from our roots, but if we bend we will not break. It is only if the tree did not give enough, could not bend enough, that it would break in half. Only if it was rigid and unyielding would the storm destroy it. And so it is with us.

This yielding to the storm allows the tree to remain at peace with the world. No matter what comes its way, it stands tall and bends according to the ferocity of the assault. The stronger the attack, the more it surrenders.

The only power the storms in our lives have is the power we allow them to have over us.

There is nothing new under the sun, and every battle we face has been fought by others before us. As a matter of fact, if I were able to put the problems of everyone I know into a hat and pick some new ones I would probably be hoping to get mine back out again.

So as we go about our day, let us remember that everyone we pass on the street, and everyone we share the roads with, and everyone we interact with in even the slightest way, are all facing their own storms. We are all alike in this way. Let us be conscious of this fact and do our best to not add to the wind and rain they endure. And if we can, see if we can plant ourselves in their lives in such a way to shield them just a little, give them a little rest, and say, “I too am enduring the storms of life. I know what it’s like. I will stand with you and we will be strong together”.

Until next time friends,

Dr. Mark

You can view more articles by Dr. mark at http://www.theinnatetruth.com. Dr. Mark is available to speak at your organization or special function.