I last wrote about my enormous appreciation for a single clouds arrival at a recent beach shoot. And it got me wondering if my gratitude was more profound, and joy more fervent *because* of the fact that I’d been dealing with the challenging conditions of harsh sunlight when the cloud suddenly floated in, acting as a puffy white softbox. No doubt I’d have been a happy photographer to arrive at the beach that day to overcast skies, being spared the stress of working with harsh light. But would I have experienced the same degree of thankfulness for the lone cloud had it not been for the contrast? Perhaps not.

Wouldn’t it be nice if things always went our way....if we consistently got what we wanted and avoided what we didn’t want? It would be so great to wake up in the morning, decide we’re in the mood for clear skies and temperatures in the 70’s and have it be so. But even those who seem able to control about everything else in their lives can’t boss mother nature, which I guess is her lesson--her gift, to us. Is rainfall ever as sweet and poignant as when it arrives following a drought?

How might my life be transformed if while in the midst of something I do not want I was able to see it as nothing more than the contrast that will eventually lead me straight into the arms of joy and gratefulness?



~Cynthia