I don’t think we realize how thankful we should be for clouds. The beauty of this statement is its metaphorical promise as well as its literal. Literally, I am so thankful to the clouds. Imagine an Earth where we were constantly scorched by the sun’s hot rays. There would be no water falling from the sky to replenish rivers, ponds, or to cover our mountains with much needed snow. Today the sky is overcast and it is cold and windy. But gazing into my screen saver for a few moments, which displays an image of the Earth’s surface with swirling clouds, it occurred to me that this day, that doesn’t seem like a blessing on first glance, is miraculous. The clouds, up there now on this chilly day, are a blanket of protection from the fierce elements of the sun. I am protected by the very thing that seems to be blocking the warmth.

What of this metaphorically? What are “the clouds” in my life that could actually be a blessing, that seem very much annoying or to be “clouding out the brightness” in my day. There is the anxiety I have been experiencing these last couple of days, there is the pain in my knee. I can say that the anxiety is full of lessons. I tend to believe that I would not feel this if I was more hardened off to the world. But I am open enough to receive the messages that my body and spirit are trying to send through. The clouds are teaching me of my sensitivities to the world and about my ability where I absorb from people that which I do not want. I discovered in meditation this morning that really, if I pay closer attention to myself by way of breath and taking the time to just sit with myself while listening to all of the pain and grief and annoyance or any sort of dissonance that lay inside of me, I will be aware. I will learn that I do not need to or should not over-extend myself and take on the problems or discomforts of others. The knee, well it is simple, I cannot force my body tissue into working so I will stop and listen to it, let it breathe, let the sensitivities come out.

Clouds are our heroes really. They protect us from harming ourselves under the world’s harsh elements. I cannot always see through the clouds, but they are there, hanging over my head, filtering out the light, only to have mysteries and messages deep in their the depths. Perspective can be a life changer. Sometimes just seeing our hinderances, our pain, our discomfort, or our disabilities as heroes and gifts, we then start where we are. Everything is turned on its face and all of a sudden we are making progress instead of feeling like we are failing at moving a mountain that we were put at task to displace. Sometimes things just click into place. One day we find we are no longer stuck. It just happens after millions of minor movements, efforts, attempts, where the struggle becomes natural, the norm. But under this cloud is all of a sudden where I am meant to be, I realize. Under this cloud is where I will learn, and I am protected and saved by its strange cool grayness.