It’s spring time in Georgia, which means thunderstorms. I love a good thunderstorm. If I had a covered porch, I could sit outside all afternoon and listen to a thunderstorm roll through. The rhythmic sound of rain accented with rumble of thunder. To me, thunderstorms can be extremely relaxing.

But sometimes thunderstorms turn severe. The wind picks up. Lightning flashes and thunder crashes. Severe thunderstorms, and the tornadoes that can often follow, can be quite different.

When a severe thunderstorm comes through, things get scary. Tree branches fall, trees topple over, shingles get ripped off the roof. What started out as a soothing afternoon showers turns into a nightmare. It’s amazing how something as simple as wind can cause so much damage to a house. Sometimes total destruction.

Sometimes storms are scary, but there’s an interesting thing about storms. If you’ve ever gone outside after a storm came through, you know what I’m talking about. After the storm passes and the sun comes out, everything seems so much better. The sun seems brighter. The air seems clearer. The day feels warmer.

There are two reasons for this. One, the storm actually does clear out the air. The rain and the wind help clear the air of dust, debris, and pollen that is suspended in the air. All of this give the sky a hazy look because it diffuses the light. After the storm comes through, all of that is no longer in the air, so there’s less to diffuse the light. Thus, we get a clearer picture of the world around us.

Second, our perception often changes. Think about the frame of mind of someone in the middle of a severe thunderstorm or tornado. Our only concern is staying safe and surviving. When the storm passes, and all is safe, we rejoice because we have survived, and we have a more positive outlook on life.

Life works the same way. Storms come through all the time, metaphoric ones. They can serve the same purposes. They can clean out the junk that’s been building, and they can give us a new, more positive outlook on life after they’ve passed through.

If life is a storm right now, it will eventually pass, and the sky will be clearer.