Photo by Nikolas Noonan on Unsplash
2020 has been a year of storms for the majority of the world. Here are a few highlights in no particular order:
The COVID-19 pandemic shuts down the world
Multiple tragedies among people of color including the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor and the paralyzing shooting of Jacob Blake
Black Lives Matter Protests and Counter-Protests
Fires burning much of the West Coast of the United States
Bushfires on the South Coast of Australia
Multiple tropical hurricanes and storms
Extreme polarization and inflammatory rhetoric
The impeachment and acquittal of a President
The tragic deaths worldwide from COVID-19 as of this writing 942,896 global deaths impacting families across our world.
The death of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gigi
The death of Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman
In the U.K. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle step own from their positions as Senior Royals
The U.S. assassinates Iranian General Qassem Soleimani
Iran responds with a retaliatory airstrike on U.S. bases in Iraq
Ukrainian International Airlines Flight 752 crashes in Tehran killing all 176 people on board. Iran shot it down after mistaking it for a threat.
In March, the U.S. stock market plunged. The Dow fell 2,997 points. The biggest drop in 33 years
The Summer Olympics are postponed until 2021
Kim Jong Un death rumors
Twitter is hacked by a Florida teenager
"Murder Hornets" arrive in the U.S.
At the individual and family level, people are experiencing traditional storms. Credit cards stolen, funeral attendance limited because of COVID-19, weddings postponed, other medical treatment limited, unemployment, murders, robberies, assaults, domestic violence, divorce, the list continues. We are all weathering storms.
You may have noticed that my regular Shade-Tree Thinking newsletter posting is delayed this week. That's because my family has been going through our own personal storm. For the past two weeks, my wife has been in severe pain, experiencing multiple symptoms this past Sunday and Monday, which led to an Emergency Department visit followed by hospitalization. As I write this, she was going into surgery because of a spinal injury. However, there have been complications. The surgery was stopped and postponed until Monday.
How do we survive such storms? How do we endure suffering, when there is so much of it in our world?
Photo by Nathan Anderson on Unsplash
Again, the trees bring us a lesson. A tree is firmly planted. It is unable to move out of the path of the storm, and sometimes it is the same for us. No matter where we flee, like the tree, we simply have to face the storm and brace for impact.
The tree that most successfully survives the storm is firm but not rigid; flexible but not easily broken.
There is a lesson to be learned. A parable to consider. Brace for impact, but determine now that you will not be easily broken.
Sources:
Wired: Think Like a Tree
The Insider: 26 Shocking Things that Have Happened 100 Days into 2020
N.Y. Post: 2020 Events so Far
Further Reading:
Manβs Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl
Weathering the Storm: How to Build Confidence and Self Belief in the Face of Adversity by Gael Lindenfield
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