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Forget Baseball. Lately, the new national pastime has become hurricane watching and with winds gusting faster than a Roger Clemens’ fastball it’s no wonder that they strike fear into the heart of so many people. To make matters worse it seems like every time you turn on the television a hurricane expert is showing the projected path of the storm and it’s headed right for your house. Whether it’s for safety reasons or ratings I can understand why the media would keep us on red alert and I can also understand why it would cause so much stress and fear.

Unfortunately, we are utterly and completely powerless in the face of a 120 mph hurricane that is headed straight for our house, our family, our business, our source of income and our life. As human beings who strive for control we come face to face with the ultimate reality—there is so much in life that is beyond our control.

You see, hurricanes don’t just come in the form of weather patterns, wind and rain. Every day we face hurricanes at work and in life.

A sudden illness. A sick child. A car accident. Divorce. Job loss. Company reorganization. Financial crisis. The death of a loved one. Loss of business, etc.

The winds of life blow. The conditions get worse. Hurricanes come at us from all directions.

So what do we do? Do we give up? Do we live in fear? Do we hide under the covers or do we face the storm?

The answer and my inspiration for writing this comes from a boy named Joshua. As a hurricane was approaching the gulf coast Joshua’s mom was in his room telling him that that she and his dad were getting a divorce. With tears streaming down his face he said, “You know Mom, this is really hard but I’m going to try to be strong and positive and trust it will all work out.”

As she told me this story over the phone, my heart just melted. This boy, whose pain was unbearable, was choosing to stay positive as his world was being torn apart. While his levies of strength were breaking and the pain was flooding in, he was mustering up the courage and faith to reinforce his walls and stay strong in the face of adversity. He didn’t act in denial. He accepted the situation. And he knew he had to deal with it; with courage, with strength, with faith and with positive energy.

I’ve come to realize that, like Joshua, every one of us will come face to face with hurricanes in our life. We will come to the realization that our situation is beyond our control. During these moments we are meant to realize that we can’t do it alone. In our powerlessness we are meant to discover the ultimate power. In our fear we are meant to find our faith. And in our need for control we are meant to find a peace that comes when we surrender. We are meant to stay positive and act like it depends on us and pray like it depends on God.

I don’t know why we have to face hurricanes but people like Joshua and my own heart show me the way to overcome them.

How do you overcome the hurricanes / challenges in your life and work? Share your thoughts here.

Stay Positive!
-Jon | www.JonGordon.com