One dark, cloudy day, I was flying with my father, an Air Force pilot and flight instructor, in his single engine Cessna. I wondered to myself why he would fly in this weather. Then he climbed the plane through the cloud layer to a space where the air was clear and bright. He smiled at me. The clouds were far below us. We had found a source of light.
This vision has stayed with me—the feeling of amazement flying through the dark gray clouds, emerging into a world of light. My father also taught me that weather moves in dynamic patterns—with fog layers and cloud cover close to the ground, clarity and light above. And the weather patterns are constantly changing with hot and cold fronts moving in and out, carried by winds aloft. You can observe this movement by watching the clouds drift overhead.
Like the weather around us, the weather within us is constantly changing. Sometimes we feel hemmed in by clouds–disappointment, frustration, and anxiety. Yet above and beyond these clouds, there is a source of light.
The next time you feel the clouds closing in on you:
- Take a deep breath,
- Close your eyes,
- And ask yourself, “What is this?” as you watch the clouds go by,
- Realizing that the weather around us, the weather within us is constantly changing
- Seeing beyond the clouds to discover the source of light.
Namaste,
Diane