I grew up on a coastal town near South China Sea. Being in the coast, we probably get a minimum of 3 major storms in a year. My parents and my siblings had to live with it for more than 20 years. My parents are still there and pretty much getting the same dose of storms every year.
First, we have to deal with the power outage which normally goes off even before the storm makes a land fall. Second would be the wind as the storm approaches. Third, would be the rain which is normally the left over once the wind tapered off. Fourth would be the flood coming from the rain and dam water releases. Last, would be the resuming of our normal life after the storm. Having been into that situation, storm has pretty much became a routine.
Not only that we learned to live with it, we also learned to make things positive out of it. Power outage became an opportunity to bond with my siblings and get creative enough to entertain ourselves. Power outage became an opportunity to cook the food available in the refrigerator to avoid spoilage and come out with new recipes. Eating would be fun and we always surprised how many foods we got available.
Believe me, my older sister and I learned to move and think really fast during these situation. We can’t beat our mom though. She is much more fast thinker than us. Can’t beat her!
Storm became an opportunity to help. My parents are blessed and smart enough to be able to build a house that could stand any storm (so far!). I thought they were blessed that way because they are expected to help others. So that when one of our neighbor’s roof would get blown off, our house would become an evacuation center. Oh, we can’t wait who we will be helping next. We don’t really mind seeing other people in our house.
My sister and I also learned the drill of cooking soup and coffee! So when someone comes in wet and cold, we have something to offer to keep them warm.
Storm became an opportunity to serve. There are certain times of the year when storm would strike before harvest season. Dad owns some fish ponds where he would raise milk fish and prawns for profit. If storm hits before his harvest, he, my two brothers and other helpers would have to go to save the fish pond box to overflow and lose whatever is in there. They would go home successful most of the time but wet, cold and hungry. We have to keep ourselves awake and serve them. Again, we have to be quick. We can’t complain : we are all dry and warm while they are all wet and cold.
With all these opportunities available during storm, we barely notice the storm passing. Then, before we knew it, the storm would pass us just like that.
Now, here’s the fun part. After each storm, it would mean flood. Flood is not flood, it is a play area. That is our reward to a job well done.
Storm would pass us by with a lot of stories to tell.
Did you just survive the storm untouched? Try looking for someone who might need your help.
Storms are like challenges in our lives. The often we have it, the more training we get to get over it with positive attitude. Soon it becomes an opportunity to help others in spite of what we are going through. Here’s the promise, every end of each challenges would be the reward and a story to tell. What is a life story without challenges to spice it, right? I would rather have challenges with pages to tell than a smooth life with one page to write.
Over the years, storms became stronger but for us it became calmer every time.
The Learning Story 