When I set out on my journey to become a counselor two years ago after decades in HR, I really didn’t know what was in store for me – but I knew it was going to be life changing. Life changing these two years have been is an understatement, to say the least. There’s no need for me to reminisce about all of the storms I’ve encountered outside of calling them unexpected, traumatic at times, and totally life changing. Needless to say, I do often think “Whoa!” (as this stop sign I saw in Alton, Utah so eloquently states), “how have I survived this?!” And then I take rest knowing, it was my purpose to survive it and to be changed as a result. As Haruki says, “that’s what the storm’s all about,” coming out a different person. The storms have tested me, cleansed me, changed me, made me stronger, and brought me closer to self and others. Although it’s surely been difficult and I’m still adjusting like everyone else, I take comfort in knowing it’s shaken up my world in a way that I apparently needed.

How have you changed as a result of life’s storms? What benefits have you seen?

“Wholeness does not mean perfection: it means embracing brokenness as an integral part of life.”

Parker Palmer