Weathering the storm

One of my First Sgts. once told me " Anyone can maintain their game face when things are going along smoothly. It`s when a storm hits that you get to see what lies behind the mask". I`m beginning to see this bit of wisdom for the useful tool that it really is.
When I was in doubt about someone I used to deliver a bit of front loaded stress their way in order to see what they`d do and get a better idea what was under that mask they wore. Some thought this approach was manipulative at best and more than a bit mean at worst. I just looked at it as another way to collect information. Now I understand that if I`m patient I don`t need to manufacture or deliver anything,I can just observe and get the information I need to make a more accurate assessment.
We all have days when we begin to question the things we believe to be true and those questions bring some stress of their own. We begin to listen to that stress as it tells us we don`t know near as much as we think we do or aren`t near as capable as we think we are. Give those thoughts enough time and exploration and they begin to multiply like a virus and before you know it you`re ripe for an event to come along that will act as a trigger that rocks us to our foundation like a violent earthquake. If you are on low ground and anywhere near the shoreline you better be well prepared and have all the debris cleared quickly before the Tsumani that is sure to follow arrives. If you`ve planned ahead and built a strong yet forgiving foundation that isn`t too rigid and allows for some movement and flexibility then that earthquake (and the event that triggered it) didn`t do you too much damage if any at all.
Now you get to see if what you chose to build on that foundation is up to snuff. Will the coming tidal wave slam into you toppling everything you`ve built and reduce it all to floating rubble that gets swept away or will it flow around you and and leave your house standing in it`s wake? There`s always the chance that even if you`ve done everything right and the initial wave didn`t do severe damage that those around you who haven`t built so well will not survive and the debris from all that wreckage will still cause you extensive damage.
Even a strong,healthy tree with deep roots can be toppled if those around it keep slamming into and leaning against it for support after they have been uprooted and blown over.

Now I try to remember to keep to the high ground and just wait and watch. Sooner of later forces other than myself will have an impact on the people I have questions about. Those people who, when I look closely at them, I wonder if I`m seeing their true face or just a cleverly constructed mask they are hiding behind.
Here on the shoreline and the other "between places" where many and varied forces can come to bear,sometimes all at once, is an excellent place to wait and watch. When those foundations shake and the waves come you can get all the information you need. Any lingering questions can be answered by waiting till the flood waters recede and then going to look thru all the debris. Among the bits and pieces of what`s left behind you can always find the true faces of both the casualties and the survivors. When you can look into those faces you`ll find the answers to all your questions. Once you get the answers you need you can then help to rebuild your community for the next quake,tsunami or storm with an eye toward sustaining less damage in the next go-round.
Sometimes it involves climbing a mountain then clearing and moving everything onto higher ground.Sometimes it means changes in building practices and more reinforcement. Implementing suggestions that allow you to rebuild in new ways that better protect you from the potentially damaging forces around you that you have little or no control over. Sometimes you just scrap it all,walk away and consider you and your immediate family to be the only survivors.
No matter what the final outcome, there`s no denying that everyone and everything that has been touched by such an event has sacrificed something and been changed to some extent. Another fact is that things can never go back to the way they were.The Universe doesn`t work that way