☺ Being Grateful when Disaster Hits ☺

(watching the storm)

 So, this is a personal experience that happened over the past few days that really gave me the chance to practice gratitude when disaster comes along. We've had some insane weather lately, tons of rain, the most rain June has had in 40 years (and we doubled that record!). Our lake is super high and there has been flooding down at the parks near our place (by the lake). 

A couple days ago, we got a ridiculous downpour of rain resulting in a flash flood. So, here are some funny things… I was out with a friend at the time at our favourite smoothie place (Grasshopper), enjoying our smoothies and watching the rain and thunderstorm. It was kind of exciting and refreshing despite the craziness. Water was streaming down the stairs that lead up to the place, water was filling up on the grass (see photos), and a bit of water somehow got into the place that the amazing owners have to mop up to their drain. Perhaps at this point I should have clued in to maybe go home and check on our place, but to be honest I just didn't think of it. As I said, we've had crazy amounts of rain lately and so far this didn't strike me as any more alarming. 

(rain at grasshopper)

However, what I missed was the little river that flooded downtown a few blocks down, that swept into businesses and almost carried a car down the street (we live on the side of a mountain, it's all hills here! If it weren't for some good samaritans that came rushing to push the car then it would have swept down several blocks, maybe to the lake). I missed a few calls and finally noticed a text from a friend that said "Cory want to know if you're alive." So I called Cory at work and he told me that apparently our street had three feet of water down it and that I might want to go home and check on our place. 

(manhole and burst pipe up the road.)

I hurried home. It was a disaster. The moment I stepped out of the car I knew it was bad. A drain hole was pouring out water onto the highway and a crew was working to stop it. Up the street was a massive manhole that had caved in, broke a pipe and resulted in the reported three feet of water that had washed down our street. When I stepped out of the car, there was debris everywhere and thick mud and some water down our steps and walkway leading to our place. When I opened the door I was greeted by more mud and water. It was a little pool that led halfway into our living room, down the hall, and halfway into the bedroom. Just thick brown slush. Our cats were terrified, but safe, and likely glad that I came home. I honestly don't remember what slew of swearwords came out when I saw our place, I think I was more shocked than anything.

(The walkway into our place.-- This is what it looked like inside--it's been cleaned in the photos ;p)

Cory came home and we spent the rest of the afternoon and well into the evening cleaning. And that was just upstairs. It wasn't until Cory came home that we realized there was still three feet of water around the back of our place, making it so that we couldn't get into our basement to see what damage was done there. We had to ask the city workers to come pump the water out which took several hours before we could even get into the basement. 

I was honestly quite calm during most of this. Admittedly, I wasn't sure where to start when I first came in, I mean what the hell do you do with water and mud?? Fortunately it didn't do toooo much damage upstairs and we had it cleaned by the late evening. Our friend Ryan came to help too--he's an electrician so he was able to tell us if we could or couldn't go down to the basement (once we could actually get to it) without getting electrocuted. Cory and Ryan went down first. It was a disaster. About three feet of water was inside, a set of drawers had tipped over, a washer, and all sorts of boxes and things were floating about. When he told me the mess down there and the uncertainty of what was damaged (I still had my expensive silkscreening inks down there and I was praying all my screens were safe). At this point (after cleaning mud and water from our place for five hours) the stress and upset feelings were setting in. I almost cried when I didn't know what was going to happen to the supplies for my business that I've invested several hundreds of dollars into. But I just kept on putting along. 

(aftermath in the basement)

Later, Cory rescued my screens when he was able to--which fortunately were just a little wet (one had a little mud). And eventually the city workers were able to get a pump long enough to start draining the water out of the basement. Even once they had there was still water left behind and let me tell you, it looked like a hurricane had ravaged the place. Pallets and boxes were all over the place, thick mud caking everything. 

Finally, the night calmed and we had to take some time to just chill out. I was debating whether or not I was still going to be doing the downtown market the next morning (which thankfully I did). 

(water still pouring out onto the streets)

The Lesson:

I vented on Facebook. And this is the long-winded point that I'm trying to get to… sorry to give you such a long story. ;) 

I felt that I NEEDED to vent. So I did: 

yayyy for sporadic flash floods. yayy for flooded home. yayy for flooded basement :P I know I know, I don't usually complain or have anything negative to say, I think I'm allowed just this once ;p

However, I know how the law of attraction works, I know that venting is dangerous and can lead to more bad things, which is why I just never ever do it. So here is the lesson… if you're going to vent, counteract it immediately!!! 

I did:

I am grateful that none of our valuables got damaged. I'm grateful our cats our safe. I'm grateful we're safe. I'm grateful we managed to get the place cleaned up upstairs and that it wasn't tooo bad. I'm grateful that Ryan came and helped us out. I'm grateful my silkscreens are okay and my inks. I'm grateful for Cory (just because that's worth mentioning). I'm grateful I was out enjoying a smoothie when it happened (instead of being there freaking out and not having a clue what to do ;p). I'm grateful I have a home. I'm grateful to the city of Nelson for draining out the water from our basement. I'm grateful for life. ♥

I wrote down all the things that I was grateful for even during this disastrous flood. I focussed on good positive thoughts and by the end of writing my list I felt sooo much better. And it only took ten minutes. 

That's all it takes. Ten minutes to counteract negative thoughts, and you'll feel so much better afterwards and start to attract positive things. I went on to have the most amazing next day at the market, made a ton of money, met amazing people, and just had a fantastic all around day. And things are starting to turn around at home as well, so long as we keep focussing on the positive. 

Admittedly I couldn't help ask "why" the flood happened and why we received the disaster. I still don't quite have an answer, but I know that it is out there and will be very clear soon and will make sense. That is the beauty of the law of attraction. There is a reason for everything and the universe is looking out for us. Staying positive is the best thing you can always do. Saying thank you every single day for the things that we have, for the people in our lives, for food, for water, for health, for a home, all ensures we continue to have those things. When we forget to say thank you that's when things can slide. So don't forget the importance of expressing gratitude. 

I hope you are all having a magnificent day and, right now you should make a big list of all the things you are grateful for and be sure to say a great big "thank you." :) 

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