Don’t Be Afraid of the Wind

“You should never view your challenges as a disadvantage. Instead, it's important for you to understand that your experience facing and overcoming adversity is actually one of your biggest advantages.”   -Michelle Obama

This past month I hiked the beautiful ‘Lands End Coastal Trail’ in San Francisco. It was cold. It was windy. There were a lot of steep steps. But yes, the vistas were spectacular. And what impressed me the most were the stunning wind-blown Cyprus trees, shaped and warped by the wind, holding fast to the shoreline with strength and determination.

Loving metaphors from Nature, I thought about each of us, often buffeted by adversity and challenged by forces that make us dig deep to survive and thrive. Like these trees, adversity can strengthen us – creating resiliency – that maybe we didn’t know we had. And I admire people who find a way to endure and even flourish given the hurdles and barriers thrown at them. I stand in awe and salute each of them who like the windblown trees create beauty, life and hope among harsh environments. You are my heroes.