Get Through the Storm

​I was recently going through some of my images when I came across this photo. I’ve looked at this photo dozens of times but it wasn’t until recently that I remembered the storm that followed right after I took this shot.

​We had finally made it to the top of the mountain after a long hot day. The view was breathtaking. All we could see was a sea of mountains and a carpet of lush green valleys below. It was a sight that I don't think I will ever forget.

'That hut down there is where we are lodging for the night,' my friend said. It was a speck in the distance. We were confident we could make it before sunset, but we could see dark clouds gathering above us. As we paused to take in one more view, we heard a rumble of thunder in the distance and could smell the rain coming. My wise and more experienced friend suggested that we hurry as I stuffed my camera deep inside my backpack.

A brisk walk seemed appropriate with a 40 lb backpack after hiking uphill most of the day. We soon realized it wasn't enough. After a few minutes, we felt some sprinkles as the temperature dropped and the rumbling became louder and louder. I remember scrambling as fast as we could, nearly running as the rain picked up and the thunder advanced closer. We weren't sure how far we had gone or how much further we had to go; we just knew we had to keep moving as fast as we could. We hoped that we wouldn't slip and fall on our face or roll down the mountain in the process.

Your mind always goes to the worst place when you are in these situations.

What if one of us falls and get's hurt?

What if we get stuck on the mountain and don't make it to the hut?

What if we get struck by that lightning-then what?

Of course, none of those things happened. After what seemed like hours, we could see that we were almost there. I remember my friend and I started laughing when we were about a mile away from the hut. Laughing with relief that we had made it, laughing at the looks of ourselves dripping wet and speckled with mud, and thankful that our worst fears were not realized. Somehow we managed to make it in one piece.

We underestimated the magnitude of the force of Mother Nature. Being in that storm was a good reminder that storms may come when we least expect them, but there's only one way to get out. We have to go through the storm.

There are storms in nature and storms in our day-to-day lives. We often think that we can outrun the storms, that we can be faster or maneuver more quickly, that we are special or smart enough to escape unlike others have in the past. It's easy to think that the storm will never end or that we will never make it out in one piece.

We get through the storms one day at a time. We don't look back; we keep moving forward. We keep our eyes focused on where we want to go. We might fall a time or two, we might get wet, and we might not make it where we want to go in the time that we want to get there. But the storm will eventually pass. The threat will disperse. The sky will clear and another day will come that will be storm-free.