MARCH 10, 2020
Sometimes we are a dark thundercloud. There is darkness, anger and frustration all around. We keep it all to us and then all at once we burst just like a thundercloud does, lashing rain everywhere. It is much better to be a cloud that a cloud that sheds off its water calmly and does not burst. It is much better to see a rainbow after a light rain than flooded roads and lightning. It is much better not to let the angry thoughts and sad feelings pressurise you, but to let then open up and flow at the right time…
-Prabhsimrat Gill
It is the beginning of your vacations and you have planned a trip to the mountains with your close friends. You decide to set the camp next to a calm and crystal-clear river you found while driving. You finish setting up your camp and now you are busy talking with your friends while embracing the staggering beauty of the calm river and of the tall, mysterious mountains. You are just beginning to enjoy the trip, but suddenly some dark, evil thunderclouds appear above your head. They slowly begin to rumble and all of a sudden, it bursts up and you are forced to rush to the car and flee from there…
No one wants such a terrible start to a vacation. The bad beginning did not happen because of you, but because of the highly pressurized thundercloud. There was just so much mass, water and pressure inside the thundercloud that it would have burst anyways. It also did not form in a jiffy; it took a lot of time for the cloud to collect this much water and mass. Then the pressure was built as the cloud held the water for long and long… Finally, the pressure was so much that the cloud could not resist it and… it burst.
These kinds of clouds are not only outside, but also inside us. We let our emotions form into a bubble that exists inside of us, then we don’t let it out and the pressure of holding these emotions just increases and increases like in the thundercloud. Then the day comes, when we just can’t hold the pressure anymore and we burst up, just like the thundercloud.
But then the question arises, how did this pressure build up inside us in the first place? The answer to this is very simple. Whenever we feel a certain way or whenever certain types of sad or negative thoughts arise in our mind, our first reaction to our emotions is, “I don’t know you. I am IGNORING you.” We as humans naturally tend to ignore our emotions. This is the same case with the thundercloud, it ignores the amount of water inside it and the pressure increases. The more we ignore our sad emotions, the more they pressurize us and the stronger they become. This then leads to the formation of the thundercloud inside us. Now, we continue to ignore them and the day comes when the sad emotions and feelings seem invincible, we give up and the thundercloud inside us bursts and lashes the pressure out in form of never-ending sobs…
Now let’s go back to our vacation scenario. You have set up the camp and you are relaxing next to the river. There is a slight drizzle and you are enjoying next to the river. After about half an hour a rainbow rises behind the high snow-capped peaks and you have the perfect scenery for a great picture. You could not have had a better beginning than this for your vacations…
This scenario is completely opposite than the first one. There are no thunderclouds and no heavy rain. If the thundercloud exists inside us, then can the rainbow also exist inside us?? The answer is YES! Both the rainbow and the thundercloud exist in nature, so do they exist inside of us. We differentiate between the two by giving most of the importance to one and underestimating the other. We have the choice to decide who is powerful- the rainbow or the thundercloud.
The way to become the rainbow after a light drizzle is by analysing and befriending our emotions instead of ignoring them. We need to welcome the sad feelings and understand the why behind them. You need to ask yourself certain questions when you are trying to understand the WHY. What is the purpose of the existence of these feelings in me? What has caused me to feel this way- is it an accident, a mistake, a person or an action of mine? How can I correct the cause of the feeling? What is the hidden lesson in me feeling this way? What do I need to do in order to let this feeling go away and not let it pressurize me? Asking these kinds of questions will help you analyse your emotions and help you take emotionally wise decisions.
After analysing your emotions and not ignoring them, you will not let the thundercloud form inside you and you will be the light drizzle and the rainbow after it. Also, it is completely okay to cry and let out your feelings that way if you want to. What’s important is analysing the feelings and becoming the happy, colourful rainbow after getting rid of the sad emotions…
Going back to our scenario, we notice that the river is as calm as ever even after the thunderstorm or the light drizzle. The calmness of a river is only broken temporarily during a thunderstorm. Then it comes back and stays persistent. Your emotions should be like a river, they should flow calmly and persistently… And, this will happen only after a deep analysis of our emotions.
Whenever a sad emotion comes around, welcome it, analyse it, and let it flow like the water of a river, leaving you the same as before. Leaving you the person who has evergreen calmness and happiness…