Too often on the front page of any newspaper we are bombarded by tragedy, death, and depressing news about our economy or environment. Well, nestled amongst all the typical stories was one that brought to light some small miracles that occured during the violent storms that killed 45 people across the South and Southeast United States over the weekend. The miracles were to be found in a small hamlet in Askewville, North Carolina. While 11 people died during the storms tornado's that blew through, not all the news was bad. In one instance, a man was able to lift an entire wall of a house to save 5 people trapped beneath it. He even admits that he does not know where the strength came from. Whether it be the adrenaline coursing through his veins after having a roof ripped off from over his head or from some other source, he said it felt extremely easy to lift the wall up. Another couple was huddled in a bedroom closet as the tornado tore their house apart and threw them through the air into the back yard. They landed only a few feet away from each other with minor injuries, something that most people would not live to re-tell. The last small miracle occured to believe it or not, a donkey that played a key role in the town's yearly Christmas pageant. The donkey was lifted by the tornado, thrown three hundred feet onto its back, yet survived and was seen chowing down in a pasture the next day.
It is miracles like these that give people the strength and inspiration to clean up and move on with their lives. Not everyone was lucky enough to survive the storm, but things could always be worse. Bombarded by tragedy almost every day, we often times forget how strong the human spirit is to lift ourselves out of the any tragedy and move on with our lives. Will things ever be the same for these people, probably not, but to be able to find the small miracles is a miracle in and of itself. Similarly, for a newspaper such as the NYTimes to report on these minor miracles is refreshing. There is a lot of negative news out there and unfortunately, that is what a lot of people feed off of. People seem to need news of tragedy happening to others in order for them to feel better about themselves and their situation. If we look around us, there are small miracles happening all the time. They may not be on the same scale as the miracles that occured during the tornado in North Carolina, but miracles they are nonetheless.
Even if we look at the tragedy in NY last week in which a mother drove her children into the Hudson River (I did make a mistake in that blog, the 10 yr old escaped from the van once it was in the water, he was not let out by her), the fact that they 10 yr old was able to escape despite his mother's efforts to keep him in the van is a small miracle. Yet more emphasis was placed on the death and tragedy. We should instead spend some time celebrating the fact that this young boy made it out alive. (Note taken, do this myself as well). Its not always easy for us to see the miracles around us because we are in a sense blinded to them. We have been inoculated by society and the media that tragedy is what we should focus on. What about life and those that survive the tragedy? We should instead take the time to learn their stories and how they got through the tragedy. If we look around and start finding the daily miracles, we might realize that they happen more often than we think.
A tragedy comes and goes, most times a fleeting moment that impacts the lives of many. However, it is how we deal with the tragedy and address it that can turn a life around. If we dwell on the tragedy instead of the miracle of surviving it or those that did, we will be depressed and get caught up with it. If we are instead successful at putting tragedy behind us, moving forward, and remaining positive, things may turn out better than they were before. Everyone will experience a tragedy first hand at some point in their life. It may be an enormous tragedy such as dealing with losing a house to a tornado, or it could be a minor one that is merely a hiccup in our daily lives. It is up to us to find a way to move past it, look for the positive outcome (as hard as that may be) and see if there are any miracles that present themselves as a result of the tragedy. Miracles, small or big, often appear when we least expect them and aren't always readily noticeable, but they are there. In order to notice some miracles, we must have a deeper awareness of ourselves and the events unfolding around us. We must take our eyes off of the future and deal with the present. Today, look for a small miracle, whether it happens to you or someone you know. Celebrate it and keep it with you throughout the day. Life is not always as depressing as we make it out to be, we must just shift our focus and awareness to see things in a different light.
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