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 over 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. The weather patterns are constantly changing with hot and cold fronts moving in and out, carried by winds aloft. You can observe this movement for yourself 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, fear, and anxiety. Yet above and beyond these clouds, there is still a source of light.
The next time you feel the clouds closing in on you:
- Take a deep breath and slowly release it.
- Close your eyes,
- Continue to breathe slowly and deeply, focusing on the area of your heart.
- Then ask yourself, "What is this?"
- Label your feeling, then release it with a slow outbreath.
- Feel the clouds recede
- As you realize that the weather around us, the weather within us is constantly changing
Remember that you can always look beyond the clouds to discover the source of light.