“If you spend your whole life waiting for the storm, you’ll never enjoy the sunshine.” -Morris West
Today I watched Finding Nemo, one of my absolute favorite Disney movies. When Dory and Marlin are searching for his lost son Nemo and it seems like they’re doomed to fail, Marlin says, “I promised I’d never let anything happen to him.”
Dory responds, “Hmm. That’s a funny thing to promise. You can’t never let anything happen to him. Then nothing would ever happen to him. Not much fun for little Harpo.”
As someone who has often worried about people I love, I find this incredibly insightful. The truth is we never can know for certain when a storm is coming. We can’t fully protect ourselves or the people we love from hardship.
What we can do is choose not to cause ourselves pain by shutting down, fearing everything that might go wrong. When we hide from the worst that could possibly happen, we also close ourselves off from the best.
Today if you’re feeling fearful about things that might go wrong tomorrow, come back to the present and recognize things that are going right today.
There’s a lot of sunshine to enjoy in life, but we can only appreciate it if we’re willing to be firmly rooted in the here and now.
Photo by Nieve44/La Luz
About Lori Deschene
Lori Deschene is the founder of Tiny Buddha. She started the site after struggling with depression, bulimia, and toxic shame so she could recycle her former pain into something useful and inspire others do the same. She recently created the Breaking Barriers to Self-Care eCourse to help people honor their needs—so they can feel their best, be their best, and live their best possible life. If you’re ready to start thriving instead of merely surviving, you can learn more and get instant access here.
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