The Storm

It is not the storm that we fear.
It is the aftermath of what remains.
The devastation and carnage left behind.
The worst of storms are the ones that no one else ever sees.
The ones that happen in our hearts and in our minds.
The ones that seem to last an eternity.
Ripping away at our confidence and tearing apart our hopes and dreams.
Leaving behind just a shadow of who we were.
Caused by love, fear, doubt, or hate.
These storms manage to wreck the foundation of what we believe.
But as with any storm, what is left behind is in the eye of the individual.
We can look around and see the debris of our lives scattered about.
We can fall to our knees and clutch the pieces to out chest and weep.
Or we can look up to a sky no longer filled with darkness and despair.
We can look to a sky of clarity and promise.
Those who will suffer through more storms in fear will be the ones who weep and those who defy the next storm and take the relentless beating with a smile are the ones who will turn to the sky.