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The Hidden Power of Running Into the Storm
The first time we took my son to the zoo, he was amazed by a herd of bison near the entrance.
When we got home, I sat down with him and started looking up interesting facts about bison that we could talk about.
One fact has stuck in my mind ever since:
In the wild, bison instinctively run towards a coming storm.
While my son was (probably) a bit too young to understand the significance of this detail at the time, I’ve made sure to highlight it on every zoo adventure since.
Not because it’s important for some future animal fact quiz, but because it’s important for life.
Running into the storm is a metaphor to live by. It seems counterintuitive. It sends a chill down the spine.
It’s the hard way. It’s the right way.
If you turn away from the storm and run, it lingers. It lasts longer. The storm chases you. It controls you. By facing the storm, by charging into it, the bison move through it faster to get to the other side.
The same is true in your life:
The life you seek is found on the other side of the questions you fear. The actions you delay. The challenges you sidestep. The hard conversations you avoid.
The life you seek is found on the other side of the storms you run from.
What are you running from that you should be running towards?
Avoidance allows the storm to control you. Embrace the struggle. Fall in love with the storm.
Every single thing you want in life is on the other side of something that sucks. That suck might be 100 hard workouts, 100 bland meals, 100 hours of focused work, or 100 hard conversations.
100 storms.
The storm is the cost of entry.
And as Sigmund Freud once wrote in a letter to Carl Jung:
“One day, in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful.”
Happiness is not a byproduct of ease. Happiness is a byproduct of meaningful struggle. Because there’s nothing better than a hard-earned win. Pain. Resilience. Grit. And then, reward. Knowing you paid the cost of entry with pride. That’s real happiness.
So, again, ask yourself:
What are you running from that you need to be running toward?
This was such a good post with an important message. Thank you!