Why Wait On The Storm When You Have Sunshine Now?

“If you spend your whole life waiting for the storm, you’ll never enjoy the sunshine.”-Morris West

Keep this in mind whenever you find yourself waiting to deal with the storms in your life. If you are spending your life waiting for the next bad thing to come up, you are going to miss out on the beauty and good things that are available for you to enjoy.

Today’s inspiration is all about understanding your storms and realizing the sunshine that you have right now! We will take a look at the following:

• What is your personal storm?
• What happens when you spend too much time waiting on your storms to come?
• How can you understand the storm you are waiting on?
• How to enjoy the sunshine in front of you right now?

Now that we have the questions, let’s find the answers!

What is your personal storm?

Your personal storm differs from another person’s storm. Your personal storm can be something that can try to test you during your lowest and toughest moments in your life. Andrea Smith at Andrea at West shares three types of personal/spiritual storms that you could be dealing with. I will list and give my personal take below:

1. Storms of sorrow:
   • When life deals us the experience of “loss,” we find ourselves in a storm of sorry.
   • You could face this whenever you are dealing with the loss of the following
     • A person through death or other negative situation.
     • A job or career.
     • Finances.
     • Relationships.
     • Material things (house, car, jewelry, etc.).
2. Storms of Decision & Doubt/Tension/Uncertainty:
   • When there are times in our lives that we do not know what to do and we stand at a crossroads in life and do not know which pathway to take.
   • You could face this whenever you are trying to make a tough decision with the following:
     • Friendship or relationship.
     • A job or career.
     • Moving to a new house, city, state, or country.
     • Travelling and deciding where to go on vacation.
     • Trying something or meeting someone new.
3. Storms of Worry:
   • When we worry for ourselves, worry for others, worry for the unknown future, worry about those that we love, worry about that which WE CANNOT CONTROL.
   • You could be dealing with this whenever you or someone you know are facing the following:
     • A future decision with an unknown outcome.
     • Doing something that requires coming out of the comfort zone.
     • Doing and being apart of something that cannot be controlled by you or the other person.
     • Facing fears or phobias.
     • A lack of confidence in someone or something going a certain way.

What happens when you spend too much time waiting on your storms to come?

If your spending more time waiting on the storms, you are causing problems in your life and other people around you. Here are three thing that can happen if you are still waiting on your personal storms to come.

1. You are constantly missing out on opportunities.
   • When you are so focused on your storm coming, you miss out on what is around you in terms of opportunities to enjoy life and make yourself better.
   • If you are missing out on such opportunities as relationships, careers, and personal relationships (associates, friends, romantic, marriage, etc.), you may not get a second chance at a first impression.
2. Your health takes a major hit.
   • Waiting on the storm to come can really stress you out to where you are causing yourself anxiety and panic attacks over something you cannot control physical or mentally.
   • It will wear down your body with stress, headaches, injuries, and even death.
3. Your relationships get lost or disappear.
   • By you spending more time looking for that storm to come, you are missing out on valuable time to enjoy and build healthy relationships.
   • Eventually, those people will either get lost or leave your life.

How can you understand the storm you are waiting on?

In order to survive your storm, you must understand what your storm is all about. Here are three things you must understand about your storm:

1. Your storm will find you at the right time.
   • The storm that you are waiting to deal with will find you when the time is right. There is nothing extra that you can do to make it come any sooner.
2. Your storm knows where you are.
   • The storm knows where you are so do not worry about if the storm will ever visit you.
3. Be careful in what you wish for in your storm.
   • The storm that you desire may come sooner than you expect, and you may find out that you are not as ready to deal with the storm as you may think. If that storm comes sooner and you are not ready, you could be in some serious trouble.

What to do with the sunshine you have right now?

Since you cannot control or predict when the next storm will come into your life, you should enjoy the moment of sunshine you have right now! Lori Deshene with Tiny Buddha asked the Tiny Buddha community how to live life to the fullest, and they offered 30 ways you can enjoy your life now. I will list them below and if you just can do at least one of the items in this list, you will make the most of the sunshine in your life.

1. Live in the moment. Forget the past and don’t concern yourself with the future. (Tanner Christensen)
2. Fully embrace the now, no matter what the situation. (Patrick Flynn)
3. Do the things you love. (Diego Felipe Villa Serna)
4. Learn to forgive and embrace unconditional love. (Ann Glasgow)
5. Live every day as if it’s your last, embracing each experience as if it’s your first. (Jennifer Fertado)
6. Believe in “live and let live.” (Satyendra Pandey)
7. Use quiet reflection, honesty, and laughter. (Erin Rogers Kronman)
8. Be other-centered. (Tricia Mc)
9. Find calm in making art. (Z.r. Hill)
10. Focus on today and how you can do your best to live it to the fullest. (Amelia Krump)
11. Participate in life instead of just watching it pass you by. (Lindsey Wonderson)
12. Stay healthy, eat right, and most importantly, be kind to all. (Tho Nguyen)
13. Forgive yourself, appreciate others, listen to your gut, do things you enjoy, and remind yourself that we are all loved and connected. (Sandra Lumb)
14. Don’t sweat the small stuff. (Allison Gillam)
15. Question everything, keep it simple, and help whenever and however you can. (Lynda Corrigan Sutherland)
16. Try to enjoy every minute of every day. (Maria Ahlin)
17. Appreciate life’s every second. (Anna-Karin Boyaciyan-Demirciyan)
18. Step through new doors. The majority of the time there’s something fantastic on the other side. (Terri Mindock)
19. Remember that all is a gift, but the most precious of all gifts is life and love. (Debbie Teeuwen)
20. Keep your spirit free, be flexible, let go. (Leslie Brown)
21. “Do one thing every day that scares you.” ~Baz Luhrmann (Adam Raffel)
22. Don’t attach to outcomes. (Wp Ho)
23. Spend as much time with a two year old as possible. (Jackie Freeman)
24. Enjoy each and every moment of life. Every day is a new challenge and opportunity to discover something new. (Chirag Tripathi)
25. Budget travel. It is always an adventure! You get to enjoy what fate has to offer with limited means. (Ruby Baltazar)
26. Be honestly thankful for every breath you take. (Jonathan Carey)
27. Just be. (Catherine Halvorsson)
28. “Trust yourself. Trust your own strengths.” ~Gandalf the grey (Jonathan David Evan Fulton)
29. Pause momentarily before everything you do so that you notice everything you should or could notice. (Scott Hutchinson)
30. Follow your hopes and not your fears. (Jody Bower)

It is time to stop waiting for that storm, and start enjoying the sunshine right now! You cannot control when that storm will come so enjoy what do you have right now and try to use this time to make things better for yourself and for those around you. When people see that you are taking advantage of the sunshine, it causes them to gravitate towards you and feel energized as well. Let’s remember not to waste the sunshine waiting on your storm to come; use that sunshine to take action to make your life as positive and energetic as possible.

I want to share with you from my vault What Are You Waiting On? because it is important to understand that now is your time to enjoy the moment that is before you. Feel free to check out below:

I have a few questions to ask you concerning the sunshine that you have today. I am using my previous posts to engage you because it is important to take advantage of the sunshine you have today! Feel free to read, answer, and comment in the comment section below:

1. What Are You Doing About Tomorrow Today?
2. What Will You Motivate And Inspire In Your Life And The World Today?
3. What Seed Will You Plant Into Your World Today?

In addition to my link questions, I have some more questions to ask you about your personal situations of dealing with your storms and sunshine. Feel free to answer and comment below:

1. Can you recall a moment where you were waiting for the storms to come into your life?
2. What difficulties did you face in waiting for your storms to come?
3. When the storms came, were you as prepared for them as you thought you may be?
4. Based on that experience, did you choose to make the most of the sunshine in your life or wait for the next storm to come?
5. What would you recommend to someone who is trying to wait for their next storm versus enjoy the sunshine?

Your answers and comments can help yourself or someone else understand this important question…

• Why wait on the storm when you have sunshine now?

-Michael J. Fite