Mindset Changes I Learned from Hurricane Irene

1. Change will happen whether you like it or not.
2. Sometimes little storms turn into big disasters!
3. You have to learn acceptance or you'll go crazy.
4. Being thankful for small things will begin to come naturally.
5. Being open to help and learning to be thankful for everything is important.
6. Everything costs more than you think it will going in.

Change will happen whether you like it or not.

In eastern North Carolina, we had become used to hurricanes and the damage they can wreak. Especially after my namesake, Fran,and then, Floyd. We had learned to prepare for the worst.

Sometimes little storms turn into big disasters!

The first reports mentioned a Cat 1 storm headed our way. Most natives were like myself and had hurricane supplies always ready during hurrican season. That being the case, we figured we were pretty much ready for a Cat 1, after all, that wasn't much bigger than a tropical storm!

Little did we know that Irene had other ideas! She came, stayed and made sure to make us remember her! Personally, I think it was really a Cat 2 storm, but it really doesn't matter. Call it what you will, I call it a life-changing event.

You have to learn acceptance or you'll go crazy.

Let me tell you how my dog reacted to the sight of my backyard, right after the storm. She did a 360 circle and barked at it all. I imagine she was saying that it didn't look right, trees were down everywhere. A disaster had truly come home! She learned quickly to accept it. I also learned acceptance but it took me awhile.

Some things in life are just not fair.

Was it fair that after knowing my backyard looked one way and seeing everything destroyed?It doesn't matter really, as it was that way. After 10 days without power, and losing those days of pay since the entire area was not destroyed just my part of the world. It was said that I should've been able to come to work. 10 days, no air conditioning, working outside at times and no shower? I don't think so!

Being thankful for small things will begin to come naturally.

Needless to say 10 days of eating vienna sausages, pork and beans, nabs (crackers and peanut butter) and the like-well, even fast food is a welcome thing. It was nice to eat hot food in a cool place. I would have enjoyed a fish sandwich even-and I don't eat those!

Taking a shower was nice, cutting the lights on and seeing at night without candles was great! Having a chance to be online and watch TV was wonderful. Didn't really matter what I did or watched. Anything made me happy!

Being open to help and learning to be thankful for everything is important.

If you're an independent person, as I am, learning to ask for and to accept help was difficult. With some turns my life has taken recently, it was a skill that has come in handy. I also was so very thankful that the damage I'd endured was not nearly as bad as some. Some folks homes had been destroyed. That put any trials I had around my house and yard into a much more manageable and acceptable place. Thankfulness began to come easily. I still start each day being thankful. No matter how hard things are, I'm alive and so, life is sweet!

Everything costs more than you think it will going into it.

I won't go into a great deal of detail of all the damage I had, some of which I'm still dealing with now. Let's just take the refrigerator. Yes, it was older, but it worked fine before Irene came through. I reached out to a local man who repaired appliances and he came and got it going. He'd been so swamped by other requests, that I was the last job he took. I was thankful. That repair did quite nicely until the beginning of this summer. I found salad items going bad faster than ever before. So, I did what any stubborn, independent lady would do. I tried to get it to work on my own. I played with the thermostat, I moved things around after I found the bottom shelves were cooler than those above. Unfortunately, that only works in the short term. Did I mention it is older? Well, I've learned to adjust and adapt to accommodate my old frig. We seem to have come to an understanding. I understand that my frig will work when it wants and I have learned to buy items that last a little longer. Also, I've learned to dispose of the items that go bad-no matter when that may be! Again, adaptation and acceptance is the lesson!

Oh, why did I say it costs more than you'd think? Well, to get a new frig would take a great deal of money I just don't have. Could I really afford to have that first frig full of stuff go bad? Not really. But, until I can buy a used frig, I'm dealing with it. You may say, why didn't I get someone else to come and repair it? I'd been there and done that with an old frig several years ago and found that it doesn't take long to have more money in the repairs than you might have spent getting another one. I'd learned THAT lesson! LOL

In summation, while I never asked Irene to come see me, she did. She is now forever indelibly etched in my memory. But, she did teach me a great many lessons that have come in handy in building my mental toughness! I am thankful for her visit. I am hopeful no big, bad storms come to visit again, but if they do, I've learned that I can deal with it.-but-only with God's help and the help of my friends!

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