Weathering Life's Storms: Finding Strength & Purpose Through Words of Encouragement

What's going on, and welcome back to Grit, Grace, and Inspiration.

I'm your host, Kevin Lowe, and man, am I excited to have you here with me today.

Hopefully, you are doing absolutely incredible, or maybe you're not.

Maybe you feel as though you're going through the storms of life.

You feel like you are dead set in the middle of a Cat 5 hurricane.

And well, because that is the storms of life.

And the storms of life are exactly what I'm talking about inside of today's episode.

Inspired by Lori Tesney, who was featured inside of episode number 193, today's topic was born because I was thinking about it after talking with her.

And I thought to myself, you know, this comparison, comparing the troubles we face to that of a storm is so perfect.

And I realized that just as sure as there are going to be afternoon thunderstorms in the middle of summer here in Florida, the same is true for the storms of life.

Because even when things are good, when the waters are calm, you can better bet that somewhere along the way, a storm's gonna pop up.

Now, some are worse than others, some are pretty easy, just got a little uh tossing and turning, and then you're back rocking and rolling on your path.

But others, well, others really throw us through a loop.

They affect our lives from that moment forward.

They're tragedies, they're massive heartache, they're things that truly shake us to our core, and they're definitely no laughing matter.

These are the storms of life.

That's what I'm talking about today.

Inspired by Lori Tesney, who experienced her own storms.

And because it's life, she'll have more storms to endure.

We may hope that we don't, we may pray that we don't, but the fact is true that we will.

But what we can do is we can prepare ourselves for them.

We can try to get ourselves in the right headspace, adopt the right mindset to be able to utilize the storms of life for our good.

Yes, I'm talking crazy talk.

I'm talking about flipping the script, on turning the bad into good.

It's not easy.

It takes time.

Rarely ever does it happen while the storm is in progress.

It's generally only after the fact, as you continue traveling down the road of life.

Only then can you look back and understand: hmm, that's how that fit into my puzzle, forming the picture of my life.

That's what we're diving into in today's episode.

Again, this is episode number 194.

And my name is Kevin Lowe, your guide, as I take you on a journey through life storms and help you get through them and emerge on the other side a better version of you.

In the midst of a storm, it's almost impossible to see beyond, to understand that there's going to be sun again.

Because in the midst of the storm, we're occupied by nothing but the storm.

It's the pouring down rain, it's the howling winds, it's the crashing lightning and the roar, the thunder, so loud it's almost deafening.

And that's all we can focus on is the storm that's raging in our life.

But here's one little secret: the secret that only you know, and that the storm does not, is that you have the knowledge to understand that even the worst of storms, they're not forever.

They're only temporary.

And because you know that, because you know that this storm will pass, well, you already have the upper hand.

Because I promise you, just as quickly as the storm started to rage, just as fast, the sun can begin to shine again.

The skies will become clear, life will be back to normal.

That is where you have the upper hand, is because you know that even in the hardest times of life, there is another side, that this too shall pass, and that you are able to weather the storm.

Now, as I said at the beginning of this episode, I understand I'm talking about a situation looking from the outside in.

And I get it.

Because trust me, I've been through my own storms of life.

And if anybody had tried to dare tell me back 20 years ago when my life was shattered, when I awoke to be left completely blind, if anybody had dared try to tell me to, oh, Kevin, just hold in there that this storm will pass and eventually you'll find purpose in it.

I would want nothing to do with it.

And so I don't want to be that person.

What I want to be is I want to be the person, though, who you know understands what you're going through.

I want to be that person that you know gets you.

I want to be that person that you know understands that in the midst of the storm, life sucks.

And that you want nothing to do with it.

And you hate it and you hate the circumstances, and you just want it to be better.

You just want the storm to end.

And I get it.

I've been there.

And all I can do is to remind you that whether or not you're in the storm right now, or if it's a storm down the line, that I promise you the storms of life are only temporary.

They're not permanent.

And I promise if you can prepare today to get your mindset in the right space, that you too shall be able to weather the storm.

No matter how fierce it may be, no matter what toll you may endure from that storm, I promise you that you will come out the other side, that this storm will pass.

I also mentioned at the beginning of this episode that good can come out of the storms of life.

And I believe that with all of my heart.

I'm not just saying that.

I truly, truly believe it.

I truly believe that the storms of life serve a purpose, that they help to create us into the people that we become.

Now, I don't wish that I had become blind.

No, not for one moment.

But that's a whole nother topic, a whole nother scenario, a whole nother thing that I have no control over.

Because we cannot control when the storms of life happen, what kind of storms they are, how hard they're gonna hit.

All we can do is prepare for them and handle life after them.

And we can choose to become a victim to the storm, or we can choose to harness its power, to utilize the lessons we learned to benefit us, to benefit our families, to benefit the world after the storm.

That's what I'm talking about.

And when I talk about the storms of life shaping us, building us, creating better versions of ourselves, I mean it.

Think about the most beautiful things in this world.

I'm specifically thinking of the iconic Grand Canyon.

Do you know how the Grand Canyon became the magnificent landmark that it did?

Well, it was because of nothing but storms, of raging water, of howling winds, constantly beating and beating, eroding away at the earth.

Add in an earthquake or two, and you have the beauty that the Grand Canyon is today.

The rocks that you pick up on the beach that are smooth, and you think, ooh, baby, this rock is beautiful.

You know how it got that way?

Was because it's been hit by the water, by the sand, by the salt, tearing down and forming it into this smooth, perfect little stone.

It's weathered the storms.

And you, well, you're the same way.

You're only the awesome person you are because of the struggles that you've gone through, because of the storms that you have weathered, and you come out the other side a little bit better, a little bit stronger, a little bit more courageous.

And that, I think, is the awesome thing about life.

And when we can start to think about the storms of life in that way, well, it kind of makes them a little less scary because we can begin to understand that they're necessary.

They help us to grow, to help us become the people we are.

Now, like I said, I like a good day, I like a happy ending just as much as anybody else.

And I wish the bad days didn't have to happen.

I wish the scary nights never occurred.

I wish the heartache never had to happen.

But unfortunately, you and me are on the same earth.

And on this earth, one thing is for certain is that we will have storms.

But we can endure those storms.

We can get through those storms because we know that they are temporary, and we know that they are going to create us into bigger, better, stronger people because of them.

And I personally think that's pretty cool.

Another valuable lesson that I feel as though the storms of life teach us, do for us, is they help to prove to ourselves that we are way stronger than we ever thought.

Most of us don't give ourselves enough credit.

We don't think that we're very strong.

We don't think that we're very courageous.

We don't think that we're very good people to begin with.

We just think, well, I'm just me.

Until the storms of life come along.

And, well, you get through it.

You endure the storm.

You beat the battle, you withstood the wind, and you come out the other side.

And I would encourage you to recognize it, to realize the storms that you've been through in your life.

And let that be a reminder of how amazing you really are.

Because if you could get through that, well, then I guarantee you, you can get through this.

Whatever's happening right now in your life, or whatever will happen tomorrow.

Because you've got proof that you've been able to do it.

You've gotten through that, so you can get through this.

Now, here's my last point that I want to share is that as I said, we're all on this earth together.

We're all enduring storms of life.

And that's the really cool thing is that you're not alone.

I endure storms just like you do, just like your neighbor does, just like your family member does.

We all endure the storms of life.

Now, some may seem like their storms are a little bit more ferocious.

Others seem like, man, they got it easy.

They never got anything wrong.

They must have no storms in their life.

Well, don't judge a book by its cover, because we never really understand what people are going through behind closed doors.

So just remember this: that you're not alone.

We're all going through this together.

And by understanding that, I would encourage you to put down your guard and to lean on people.

When you're going through the hard times, when you are going through the storms of life, don't do it alone.

Reach out to somebody, find a friend, reach out to your loved ones, find somebody that you can do this life with.

That's what I'm talking about here, is the understanding that you don't have to be alone in the storm.

Matter of fact, you shouldn't be alone in the storm.

You should get help.

You should have a hand holding you along the way.

And, well, at the end of the day, as I said, when we can think of the storms of life in this way, where we can realize that they serve a purpose, even if we don't realize it till down the road, if we understand that they're building us into stronger people, they're forming us into the people we are, and to understand that we're not alone along this journey, that we're not alone in this storm, well, then it just doesn't seem so scary after all.

And I believe that that's how we're supposed to live life.

I believe that we're not supposed to be fearful.

And I understand that's easier said than done because this world is a scary place.

It's full of uncertainty, whether in our personal lives or talking global scale.

But I believe in all my heart that we are not supposed to live this life fearful.

We are supposed to be bold and courageous.

We are supposed to live every day as if it is our last, because that is enjoying our time here on Earth.

And I want that for you.

So whether it's a stormy day or a bright sunny afternoon, you got this because you are capable, you are able of having everything that you want in this life.

Even if some storms stand in the way.

So get out there and take on this day as the awesome person that you are.