Start Where You Are

Out on the Cornish coast

The storm had been raging all night and now, in the wee small hours, I watch the tail-end of ‘Dennis’ making its final assault on the mighty trees next door. While the rain lashed all in its path, the giant trees bravely took their beating, bowing their noble heads and digging deep. I was mesmerized by the spectacle and the ferocity.

Then, without warning the sassy storm flicked its tail and was gone and a sudden gift of calm arrived in the neighbourhood. After days of high winds, we all slipped into a puddle of stillness.

It felt so unexpected. 

I found myself reflecting on the events of the day before. I had applied, for the first time in my life, to join a local group of talented artists, but had been unsuccessful. As I stood at the window, I felt the sting of disappointment.

I was determined to accept the decision and move on, but then I remembered that tepid acceptance of life’s situations can leave you feeling empty and leave the door open for self-pity to sneak in. So, I challenged myself…

“Ok, this is where I am…start from here…and make something good of this”

I started making a list of the good that might come from this rejection.

• Not being accepted into the art group would give me more time to get back to experimenting and going with the flow of my new underdeveloped ideas.

• Not getting the thumbs up might actually mean I wasn’t ready yet…was this a blessing in disguise?

Thinking back to the storm, I remembered how intense and relentless the rage of it had been. I had imagined the ferocity would last for hours more…but it didn’t. It blew itself out and moved on.

Stepping over stormy disappointment works best when we can find a way to learn from the situation, take the good from it (honestly), and knit it into the calm that will follow.