One undeniable fact about life is that there will be storms. Dark, dangerous and often unexpected, the focus in these times quickly becomes survival. We begin to look at everything in our life as either an asset that we can use or a liability to be quickly tossed aside. The line between wisdom and panic becomes blurred and the only thing we are able to see clearly is whatever happens to be right in front of us.
While survival is important, if you don’t survive you never get to the other side of the storm, it is extremely important to remember that most of the time the storm WILL end. The crazy thing about survival is that we feel justified living and deciding without thought of the future, but if we are not careful we will do damage to our future in the name of getting through the storm! We will survive only to find that we have done damage both to ourselves, those that we care about, and the potential for a productive future. One thought that helps to put this in perspective for me is this:
Don’t get so caught up surviving the storm that you fail to consider how you will be remembered when it’s over!
With some very rare exceptions, the storm will come to an end. What won’t end is the image that you leave with those who watched you while it passed. You can either be remembered as a life-giving leader worth following, or someone to be avoided when the next storm rolls in. It is when things are the worst that an individual’s character can be seen most clearly. When others watch you in the storm, what do they see?
Don’t get so caught up surviving the storm that you fail to consider how you will be remembered when it’s over!