After a week of tornadoes and cold, rainy weather, we have a beautiful sunny Saturday.  I suppose that you could use the weather as an analogy for life.  Sometimes, out of nowhere, something happens that shakes up our lives.  It can lay waste to the status quo and force us to start over or at least take stock of where we are, where we’re going, and where we want to end up.  We might even have to rebuild our lives from the ground up because the foundations upon which they were built weren’t all that stable to begin with.  So we take stock and determine what we need to do in order to lay down a foundation that will support our hopes, dreams, and aspirations.  Then we begin to rebuild.  We start by gathering the things that made it through the storm and taking stock of our available resources.  Our most valuable resources are ourselves and our tribes.  We look deep inside ourselves and find the determination to not only survive but to thrive.  Our tribes rally around us, support us, encourage us, offer counsel, and help us rebuild.  When we feel as though we’re not making enough progress, they will point out all of the things that we’ve accomplished and help us to correct any mistakes we might have made while constructing our new reality.  They will help us see all of the possibilities that are out there just waiting to be claimed.  They will lift us up when we are tired and disillusioned.  They will be our strength when we most need it.  Sometimes walls will have to come down to allow for the expansion of this reality while new walls are constructed to protect us from the people and ideas that want to test the strength and viability of our dreams.  But in those walls, there will be many windows that will allow in the light which will illuminate this new reality so that we can see the things that we might not have even realized were hidden by the darkness.  We will fill it with things we cherish…beautiful things, meaningful things, and things that will bring us joy and inspiration.  It will be filled with love, laughter, and peace.  And we will rise…we will be the rainbow after the storm.  The storm has tested us and we not only survived…we are stronger and more determined than ever because of it.  Our dreams weren’t even touched by the chaos that surrounded us but the foundation upon which those dreams are being built will be stronger and more able to support us as we transform them into our reality.  So, my fellow rainbows, get ready to sparkle and shine!