Dancing In The Rain, By Kelly K. Brown

A rainy day at the 3 Rivers Gorge Dam in China



"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass... it's about learning to dance in the rain!" ---Nancy Salmon

This is such an incredible quote and a true understanding of its message could make all the difference in the world---LITERALLY to the entire world!

I know that sounds strange, so go with me here for a moment...

The one thing we know for certain about life is that it happens! The good and the bad (which I prefer to think of only as ‘contrast’)—and regardless… it happens.

Death, birth, illness, well-being, shortage of money, extravagant surplus of money, starvation and obesity, economic fluctuations in any direction, those who live to serve, and those who live seemingly to take advantage---all exist in this world we call our ‘home’.

So why are we surprised when anything happens, good or bad?

We know (yes, we know!) from pretty much the moment we have an awareness of life at all, that each and every one of us will one day physically die. I mean, have you ever met anyone who didn’t… at some point… die? Or get ill or recover, or celebrate through an up time or suffer in a down time? Bemoan it if you wish, but this is the truth of LIFE! Stuff happens!

So again I ask you, why the surprise when some unfortunate incident occurs? Or why the surprise when some incredible good fortune comes your way?

For me, my initiation into awareness of this major life lesson came at a very early age… when I was a mere 5 years old. Through an incredible circumstance, both of my legs were cut off by a lawnmower even though I was physically nowhere near it.

My Dad was mowing the lawn at our home in Illinois with a push mower when the one bolt mechanism that held the blade in place broke off and the entire blade flew out from under the mower, through our rather large yard and hit me across the shin area of both legs and flew beyond me into a field.

Stop for a second and imagine that! Imagine being my Dad who was mowing the lawn! Imagine being my sisters who were standing less than 2 feet away! Imagine being ME! That blade could have gone in any direction, hit anyone, anything or nothing all. But the truth of what happened is this: the blade HIT ME---and in less than an instant, my legs were gone.

I can remember for years after the accident, people asking me how I felt about it and did I ever wonder why it happened to me… and the truth is I never really gave it a thought. In fact, after they’d ask the question, I would more often wonder, “Why NOT me? Why NOT you? Should it have been someone else?”

The point I’m making is that through the ‘circumstance’ of an accident I was given a special insight most people do not learn until they are much older (if indeed they ever learn it at all).

Every time I went to a hospital, a clinic or to physical therapy, I’d see other people like myself or others in much worse condition---and ‘WHY ME?’ became a concept without valid meaning. I would often wonder “WHY ANY of these wonderful children, adults or people?”

My positive mindset and compassion for others (instead of a ‘poor me’ mentality) allowed me to easily overcome my physical condition ‘mentally’ by achieving a very good (and very valid) perspective about life!

At an incredibly young age, I understood something very important about life, I understood that:

Life wasn’t ‘for’ or ‘against’ me based on some random accident (or other life circumstance). My Life is WHAT I CREATE it to be through my own interpretation and perspectives about EVERYTHING! My inner joy came about through my understanding of what that MEANT about life in general.

That is what the quote above is all about. Storms will come and go, but it’s the learning how to dance in the rain that makes ALL THE DIFFERENCE! HOW you focus YOUR thoughts and feelings through the storm WHILE YOU ARE IN IT, determines WHAT and HOW the next circumstance of your life will be. (Keeping in mind how the Law of Attraction works, but of course!)

Think for a moment about Nelson Mandela! I can vividly remember what I was thinking the first time I heard about his positive mindset after all those years of imprisonment. Internally, I was screaming, “There is no way I’d come out of prison speaking love, forgiveness and healing… NO WAY!” And yet, that is exactly what he CHOSE to do and his very thoughts changed the course of HIS LIFE and an entire country’s history in the making!

These are extreme examples and most people will not have to be imprisoned or have their legs amputated to prove the point I’m making. Most people (when reminded) know that they have the power to ‘create their life’ in any situation—it is completely up to them based on the thoughts they choose to think!

Every single day we CHOOSE our thoughts and our focus. From the moment we wake up, we have the FREE WILL to CHOOSE any perspective about the circumstances of life we are living. Choosing the best perspective possible, makes us feel better and allows us to move forward in life with complete and utter joy… It is completely up to us! Remember:

There is no circumstance in life that a better perspective cannot turn the tide and begin attracting something far better than you ever imagined!

So, did having a good perspective bring my legs back? Did focusing on forgiveness and love get back all the years Mandela lost in prison? Not at all! BUT understanding... accepting and allowing that ‘what is’ IS ‘what is’, and then choosing the best thoughts and perspectives about all you DO have and all you CAN DO, creates all the difference in the world not only for you in the moment you do it, but for every single life you are fortunate enough to touch.

Thoughts do become things indeed, and finding ways to choose a ‘better’ perspective about any situation you are currently in will only create better future circumstances in your life.

Today, I challenge you to listen to your thoughts! What are your thoughts telling you about your future? Are they saying, “Poor me, why does this always happen to me?” which only brings more of the same. Or are they saying, “Wow, this was unexpected; how can I now think about this experience in a way that will help me feel better?” Or, How can I use this experience to help someone else, uplift another or encourage someone in need?”

In the meantime, should a storm of life catch you by surprise, you can choose to face it by opening with a brand new thought...

“Let the Dance Begin!”

Always dancing in mind, body and spirit…

Kelly

To alleviate any confusion, please note: through a series of surgeries my legs were re-attached at the time of the original accident, however, gangrene very quickly set into my right leg and it was later re-amputated. I am wonderfully blessed to be incredibly athletic (strangers are always completely surprised when they discover that one of my legs is artificial). I roller skate, water ski, snow ski, have worked out since I was 19 years old and in fact, taught high impact aerobics for 8 years. I took up weight training 5 years ago and currently DANCE anywhere from 2 to 4 nights a week.