Thanks, Mother Nature

Every so often, we human beings are treated to the reminder that Mother Nature is a smart cookie. “What?” you say.  “What’s so smart about wild fires, tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes and the like?”  My answer to that, and I realize that this is indeed my answer, is that being in the path of an oncoming disaster makes us reflect on what is most important to us.  And because disasters happen sporadically, and not at expected intervals, with the exceptions of blizzards and hurricanes which have seasons but their severity is still sporadic, it is obvious that what is important to us changes over time.

 The last couple of times fires swept through Ventura County-- in ’93 and again in 2005-- its proximity caused us to think about what we would want and need to take with us if we needed to evacuate. I noticed that Friday as I watched the flames about three miles away from my front porch, the only things on my mind were pictures of my deceased parents and brother, my darling dog Lucy, and not much else. Bob and Shoshana would be able to take care of themselves, I knew that I could put my hands on the old picture albums of when the kids were babies in a flash, and all the other stuff was just stuff, even the expensive stuff. Sure I’d hate to lose all the work I have stored on my computer, I would love to save my sewing machine, which is a good companion and source of pleasure for me, but in the end, doesn’t all that is really good and really important in life boil down to the people we love?

My commitment to the thinking and methods of Appreciative Living has caused me to think of the positive in situations, even though all things are present in every situation--both the good and the bad. So although I have lost my parents, and more recently my brother, which makes me feel desperately lonely and sad at times, at those same times I am also aware of how lucky I am to have had such wonderful parents, such a loving brother with whom I shared so much, for so long. Of the “things” I have that I enjoy having, were I to lose them, I think that I could say I enjoy seeing them, they awaken memories of good times, or special moments, or the people I associate with them, but they are still things, and as long as I am amble to remember, I will have them with me. The tendency to see the glass as half full, to appreciate what is going well in my life, to view situations through a lens that highlights the positive, is a gift beyond anything.

So today, on my list of three things I appreciate are: 1. the firefighters who have come from all over to help us in this time of need. Their alertness, their willingness to serve not only save homes and people, but renew our faith in our fellow man, 2. The cold and gloomy day, with its dampness and its chill that are giving the firefighters some respite in their fight, and enabling them to see a good ending to their hard work, and 3. all of the people and the pets that I have loved in my life, who have loved me back, and made life worth living.