So you can imagine my surprise when I got to work and realized that amazing sunrise led to absolutely nothing. The sky was bleak and gray; the smog wasn't bad, but the clouds themselves hovered over the mountain tops and took away so much life from the buildings. The ice skating rink next to my office has been empty all day. No one wants to be outside; it's cold and dark and winter.
All day, I was almost disappointed. I walked down to the beach on my lunch break to just get some fresh air, but it still just seemed so bleak. I was certain that even with such a stunning sunrise, the rest of the day would be downhill from there. That sunrise had given me hope, and that hope had seemingly led me to nothing.
Just about thirty minutes ago, I realized there was a glare on my computer from the sun. Surprised, I glanced out the floor-to-ceiling window behind my cubicle and had to do a double take. In the insanity and chaos of my work afternoon, I completely missed how the clouds had begun to dissipate and head out to sea, taking the sun with it. Just like this morning, they've rolled out like a carpet, almost. Now the yellows and oranges and pinks are coming through, illuminating the underbelly of the clouds. The sunshine is hitting the mountain tops, the buildings; there are people ice skating and the PCH is busy. It's still chilly, but the bleakness of the day is now gone.
And it's in this moment that I realize: sometimes we're covered with clouds. We have problems or drama or things that build up and cover our mountains, our buildings and our minds. But when we pull ourselves together and shine as bright as we can, we start to see our clouds in a different way. They aren't disheartening or problematic anymore; it's almost as if it's then that we can see just how beautiful life really is--even with the problems that seem to sometimes consume us like the clouds consume the mountaintops.
So take a breath and let it be.
Life is kind of beautiful if you learn to see beyond the clouds.
Today was a really great day.
