In real life, out in the “real” world, my job is transportation and logistics; the most basic definition of my job is transporting a variety of goods cross-country from point A to point B. That definition does not begin to define or convey the million of experiences I am blessed to encounter between point A and point B. I love what I do because the freedom it offers and because at heart I am a true gypsy of the road. Everyday is an adventure out here to me.
These last few days I have been transporting a Disaster Command Center from Alabama to Indiana. It was a monstrosity that required special permits in every single state and a million rules and regulations to be familiar with and adhere to. It essence, it was a giant pain in the…well, you get the picture. It looked like something that could easily land on Mars and then withstand the atmospheric elements of outer-space into infinity. It had enough booms and satellites and communications equipment to rival any NASA contraption built. It apparently could withstand any disastrous event including nuclear.
Having driven around a million miles of roads over my career, I tend to keep a professional eye on my cargo and do a little daydreaming at the same time while I ride…hey, it’s a long way to Indianapolis! Anyway, I began to contemplate what it takes to withstand disasters. To remain standing throughout the strongest attack, be it natural or man-made.
As I watched that huge hunk of metal in my rear-view mirror and imagined it being the only thing left standing in a nuclear attack and the materials it must be made out of to make such a claim, I thought of disasters in our own lives.
The definition of disaster:
n.
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- An occurrence causing destruction and distress; a catastrophe.
- A grave misfortune.
Disasters and catastrophes come with little or no warning. Often we are grossly unprepared to withstand the event, much less the after-effects. In our personal lives, when such an event occurs, we must be built of solid, even super-human, strength. I believe we ourselves may not even realize what we are made of until after we are left still standing following a disaster in our own lives. After we dig out from under the wreckage and take stock of the damages, internal and external, that is where the rubber meets the road, folks. This is the moment you reach down deep and find what it takes to carry on and rebuild your life and offer your own strength to those around you who need a helping hand. This is where true strength of character comes in.
The synonyms of Disaster include Calamity which is stated to suggest a great affliction; emphasis is on the grief or sorrow caused: the calamity of losing a child. Also Catastrophe refers especially to a tragic outcome of a personal or public situation.
I write many of my words with the heart of a mom with other moms in mind who have walked many miles in my shoes who are hurting and who are affected by personal disaster in their lives. The mothers I have met and the rock-solid strength they convey in the face of tragedy would rival that hunk of metal I hauled this week. If the kind of grit and fierceness these mothers have shown could be pattened…we would all be millionaires and NASA would be calling us.
Any disaster you can survive is an improvement in your character, your stature, and your life.
Joseph Campbell
Synonyms of DISASTER
1. mischance, misfortune, misadventure, mishap, accident, blow, reverse, adversity, affliction. Disaster, calamity, catastrophe, cataclysm refer to adverse happenings often occurring suddenly and unexpectedly. A disaster may be caused by carelessness, negligence, bad judgment, or the like, or by natural forces, as a hurricane or flood: a railroad disaster. Calamity suggests great affliction, either personal or general; the emphasis is on the grief or sorrow caused: the calamity of losing a child. Catastrophe refers especially to the tragic outcome of a personal or public situation; the emphasis is on the destruction or irreplaceable loss: the catastrophe of a defeat in battle. Cataclysm, physically an earth-shaking change, refers to a personal or public upheaval of unparalleled violence: a cataclysm that turned his life in a new direction.
Powerful as it is eloquent. Your tornadic/disaster/storm metaphors take us into the belly of the beast and show us the way out.
Well struck as always.
Thank you so much! The Beast is actually a good name for what I was hauling this week…wish I would’ve thought of it! LOL