Face into the storms in your life...

 “Facing it, always facing it…that’s the way to get through.  Face it!”  (Joseph Conrad) – from the Jack’s Winning Words blog.

From what Jack went on to write, seamen know that once you are in a storm, you get through it by facing into it, not turning away or trying to run away from it. Life is like that, too. We don’t go looking for storms in life, but occasionally we all get caught up in them. Perhaps it’s a disagreement with a loved one or friend. Perhaps it has to do with dealing with a bad situation at work. Maybe it’s realizing too late that what you mistook for love for someone else in your youth turned out to be just lust and now that the ardor has cooled there is little substance to your relationship left. These  t

ypes of things are the “storms” in our lives and we must do as the seaman would and face into them, not try to run away.

Many people are what is labeled as non-confrontational; they just hate confronting anyone about things. That’s OK and actually not as bad as being the overbearing opposite – a bully. However non-confrontational you are, there is still the need to face the issues that are affecting your life. Acquiescing to situations that are wrong or make you feel uncomfortable, just to get along, is a sure prescription for misery. Facing those problems is not being confrontational, it’s just being practical.

One benefit of just facing the storms in your life is that it gets over with quicker that way. The more you try to run or hide from life’s storms the longer they linger and sometimes the stronger they grow. Face it, get through it and get on with life. No matter what the short term hardship or pain, you’ll be surprised how good it feels when you come out on the other side. You probably will also realize how many of the bad things that you feared might happen were really all in your imagination. Humans have an amazing ability to imagine scenarios and consequences that seldom come true.

Another thing that you can do to help you get through life’s storms is to face them with a smile.

Nothing is as disarming to those who would spread hate or trouble into your life than to have their efforts be met with a smile. At first they’ll be annoyed that they can’t drag you down to their level; but, then, they’ll begin to wonder what you are smiling about and how you can smile in the face of whatever negative energy they are trying to spread. Eventually, they’ll go away, seeking someone else to infect with their problem or they may ask you how you can appear to be so happy in the face of the storm that they are trying to conjure up. You may end up making a new friend out of that conversation.

Now, I certainly don’t recommend that you become a storm chaser. Avoiding storms altogether is something that everyone should try to do, if you have enough warming about them; however, when you find yourself swept up in a storm, heed the advice of the seaman and face it. Here’s hoping that you have a sunny day with no storms on your horizon.