"LIFE isn't about waiting for the STORM to pass...It's about learning to DANCE in the Rain.”

I have learned to embrace the storm. Not to run from it , but to look for the value it brings, than learn from the experience. I may not always see the sun from the storm , but I know its up there.....Learning to Dance in the Rain. ... It simply means that one has learned to not allow anything to deter them from reaching their full potential. They don't just wait for bad things in their life to go away, instead, they have a positive attitude and take challenges head on and enjoy the journey

It’s hard to remember there is someone who can bring peace when we are being tossed so hard that we feel like we can barely hang on. Sometimes in life we just try to outlast the storm, forgetting to call on the One who can calm it.

Peace may not always come as it did that long-ago day on Galilee—the storms and winds may not be replaced by perfect calm. Instead, when we hasten to call on the Master and allow Him to bear our burdens, our peace may come in small reminders of His love and care, giving us strength to get through the storm.

Have you ever been in a serious thunderstorm. . .or maybe even a hurricane or tornado?

I’ve never been in a tornado but I have been through a couple of hurricanes and many serious thunderstorms. When serious storms come up. . .we’re looking for a safe place.When the storms of life rise up against you. . .seek to be at peace. When troubles come your way. . .do you find yourself having sleepless nights? Maybe tossing and turning. . .worrying about what may or may not happen.

The quote starts by saying what life isn’t about, it isn’t about waiting. Consider the consequences of focusing your attention on fighting the storm, solving challenges and problems waiting for the weather to improve. Does the ‘storm’ ever really pass? Storms are always occurring somewhere and leaders are faced every day with some form of turbulence to be managed and challenges or problems to be solved. The problem is that working in challenging times can mean we fail to take time to consider our own development needs – development that enables us to become more effective leaders.

So, how do you react to turbulence? Immersed in the day-to-day pressures of working life often means that leaders put their personal development on the back-burner; they forget that taking time to get to know themselves better, to become more self-aware and to ask for feedback to create understanding about the impact of their leadership behaviors creates opportunities to develop the skills to drive change and sustain performance during turbulence.

Putting our personal development into the pending tray sends a message to others that we will wait for the storm to pass – but what happens if the storm never passes? Maybe we need to learn to dance in the rain?

Understanding ourselves as leaders is an important predictor of leadership success and to take time to think about how we react and behave when leading our teams during challenging times is vitally important. Taking time to think provides opportunities to consider what we need to do to enhance our performance as a leader, to enrich the contribution we make to the people we work with and the patients and service users we deliver services to.

Waiting for the storm to pass removes a powerful opportunity to learn; it consumes energy that could be used in more productive ways such as developing leadership resilience, finding new ways of being and “learning to dance in the rain”.

I am intrigued by the idea of learning to dance in the rain – it is an energising and important thing to do! Some years ago faced with significant organisational change and considerable operational demands a team I worked with took time to explore our working relationships, to have team coaching and to create a common understanding about what we had to do differently to weather our particular storm. This time away from the front-line refreshed us: our team mind-set became much more positive; we got rid of the down-at-heart feeling of battling in the midst of a relentless storm; developed a positive attitude; found new energy and created a greater degree of collaborative working than we had ever had before.

I think that the time we spent “learning to dance in the rain” created a positive return for the team. So, my challenge to you, and of course myself, is to find time to recognise that as leaders we all experience leadership storms and the right thing to do is to use the storm as a vehicle to inform our development as leaders and to learn.

The storms in our lives include:

Violence in the family - our moms being abused or people hurting us

One of our parents being in prison

A parent coming out of prison and looking for us

Being confused about how to have a relationship with parents who have hurt us or others

Losing a best friend

When a friend turns on you

Conflict about religion

Bad fights with brothers and sisters

Our house being flooded

Living in a country where there was war, destruction and death

People swearing at you

Moving from your friends and land

-When family members lie and say they are not drinking

-When someone becomes mean or violent when using drugs

or alcohol

Divorce

-A parent not showing up to see you for a visit

-Mom and dad fighting

-Not seeing one parent

Mean words and harassing things are like storms!

-When kids used to say it all the time I had no one to play with. That was the worst and I would cry non-stop because people wouldn't want to be my friend.

-Racism - this is when other kids make fun of skin colour or maybe what you eat. Really it's about other children being mean for no reason. This makes kids feel bad about themselves.

Poverty and not having enough food or clothes

Getting in trouble at home and at school.

Sometimes when things are bad at home I am in a bad mood at school.

It’s not just about anger... but sometimes it’s about being sad.

Seeing violence in our schools or community

Someone we love getting hurt in an accident

Too much homework and feeling too stressed

Not knowing whether your parent is alive

Not ever knowing a family member and feeling worried-sad-lonely

A grandparent dying Getting Through the Storms

Listening to music

Listening to music helps a few of us during storms. For example ...losing a best friend is like a really big storm. Music can help to keep your mind off of the hurt. Some people don’t like to listen to anything that’s too sad ...while others of us do. The words in the music can be soothing. With my friend I listen to a machine that plays relaxing sounds like waves which helps us to calm down and go to sleep.

Animals

Many of us love our pets. We have fun with them and they can help us through hard times. ‘My cats and dog help to calm me down and to stay calm especially at the times when people have tried to hurt me. They can tell when I am sad. My cat protects me because I am the one who takes care of her.’I go in the dogs cage because it feels safe there and I play with my dog.’

Drawing

Drawing helps to put out our emotions on paper and change our mood, you can also write songs or poetry.

Strength from Singing

I love to sing and singing helps when I’m stressed. It helps me to get my strength up from the beat and the lyrics. Getting through the Storm of Hurt Many of us have been hurt in different ways. It’s sad and hard when children are hurt. When some of us get hurt we may show sadness. But for some of us instead we might show it through anger. In our conversations we discovered ways of dealing with the hurt.....

Poverty -

Think about how comfortable your clothes are...instead of how they look ..For some of us being poor can be like a storm. Sometimes people make fun of you cause of the clothes you wear. Being poor can make you late for school and make it hard to do homework. Poverty can make kids sad and depressed. What helps is to think about how comfortable the clothes are instead of how they look. Focus on not wearing clothes to fit in and get other people to like you for who you are.

What? Why would someone want to learn to dance in the rain? What does it mean when someone says they have learned to dance in the rain? It simply means that one has learned to not allow anything to deter them from reaching their full potential. They don’t just wait for bad things in their life to go away, instead, they have a positive attitude and take challenges head on and enjoy the journey.

Helen Keller, one of the most iconic names in history is an example of someone who learned to dance in the rain. At the age of 19 months she lost sight and hearing as a result of meningitis. She had to learn braille and feel hand movements although she couldn’t see. In spite of her disabilities, she attended Rad cliff College where she was the first blind/deaf person to graduate with honors. While still at Radcliffe she began her writing career. This continued for 50 years. In addition to ”The Story of My Life” she wrote 11 other books and numerous articles on blindness, deafness, social issues and women’s rights. She is regarded as an extremely powerful example of enthusiasm and advocacy for people with disabilities.

 Today I want to introduce you to a twenty year old musician, Patrick Henry Hughes. Patrick is a nationally known pianist; singer and trumpeter who was born with no eyes and a crippling condition which left him wheel chair bound all of his life. Despite circumstances that seemed overwhelming, Patrick overcame physical issues to excel as a musician, student, performer and public speaker.

Patrick was fitted with artificial eyes and placed in a wheel chair. He was introduced to the piano before his first birthday. As a young child he showed that he had the potential to be a very gifted musician. By Patrick’s second birthday he could play simple songs such as You Are My Sunshine and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Patrick states in his book I Am Potential “he learned at an early age that he was dealt a hand in life different from everyone else. That’s okay, because I also learned God would help me play that hand if I was willing to accept what I was missing and be thankful for what I can do.” Now that’s GRATITUDE!

He went on to graduate from the University of Louisville magna cum laude with a Bachelors Degree in Spanish. He has been a member of the University of Louisville Marching Band for five seasons with the help of his father. Patrick John Hughes tirelessly maneuvers Patrick’s wheel chair along with 220 plus other musicians through the various formations performed by the Cardinal Marching Band. WOW! What an amazing dad.

 The attitude of Patrick and his family to overcome the obstacles that he was born with was no small feat. However by taking the “cards they were dealt” this family has definitely learned to dance in the rain. Vivian Greene says it best, “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass … It’s about learning to dance in the rain.”

 Think for a minute, we are all poker players who are dealt a hand of cards, and it’s up to us how we’re going to play our hand. What’s holding you back? What’s keeping you from reaching your full potential? Do you have the courage to persevere through the challenges in your life with the hope that you will survive the storm?

 Life, in many instances, is learning to adapt to changes, and how we address adversity can speak volumes about our constitution. While I am not always content with the life I have, I am eternally grateful for having one. Believe in your self and keep your spirit high even in the rain and through tough times. It’s all about grabbing an opportunity when it comes instead of fearing you will fail. Remember, champions never give up.

 Thoughts to ponder:

  A bend in the road is not the end of the road… unless you fail to make the turn. ~Author Unknown

There will be good times and bad in life. This is a fact you will learn only through living. It is up to you whether the bad will be bad or if you will find light in the dark. There are things that happen everyday which can be taken in different ways. If i was going to the beach and it began storming I could either throw a fit or decide to go outside in my bathing suit and embrace the rain.In learning to embrace life’s struggles we find ourselves.

We are made of whatever we choose to allow. If I should choose to bring out life and laughter despite surrounding circumstances then that is what I will have. Life is about the struggle itself and what we make of that. There will be things beyond our control that happen to us but there are lessons to be learned and we can still have peace of mind despite what we are dealing with.

We must deal with things that come into our life. This is simply how life works. The way we choose to deal with our struggles creates who we are. Let life affect you in building strength for yourself and your future. Decide who you are through your struggles and stay true to that. You are unique in your strengths compared to others and that is what you should try to bring out of yourself in times where you struggle.

Do not let the rain bring you down but instead realize that it is as beautiful as the sun and meant to be cherished. So dance. Dance your own unique dance under the sky and feel the freedom to be you. Be one with the struggle and the reward.Awaiting to ear your success!!!!