Before Hurricane Irma came to Florida, the media aggressively reported how big this hurricane would be and how dangerous it would be. Not surprisingly, many people started to get nervous.
As the impact day approached, the nervousness got stronger and you could feel a sense of panic. Many stores had empty shelves. Some people felt like it was the end of the world. Friends asked me again and again, to leave town, go anywhere but Florida.
Right before Hurricane Irma hit Florida, I had a student doing private training for two days. With the chaos and nervousness everywhere, I could have been justified in canceling this training.
I said to myself – “If he is not afraid of the bad weather, I am not afraid of the bad weather either.” I wanted to help this dedicated student to complete his learning. This mindset has always helped me confront traumatic situations: If other people can go through challenges, I can deal with them.
After the student left, I started to seriously prepare for the night that Irma was due to hit us. I cannot say I was not nervous at all, but I kept my faith, my wisdom, my Daoist practice, and my calmness (at least my external part). As the time got closer, the sound of the wind became loud and fierce and then we lost electricity.
When we lost power, I understood why people could feel like the end of the world was here. I constantly told myself “It will pass”, “I will be fine”! I also told myself, “If something has to happen, there is nothing I can do.” Worry does not prevent things from happening.
I will go with the flow, live with Dao. I will deal with whatever happens, I will do my best to help myself and help others. I went through the hurricane peacefully.
The next day, I went out to see my yard. I lost several Papaya trees and many branches fell from my big oak tree. There was no other damage. I thanked God for this miracle!
Since we did not have power, there was no way I could make a hot breakfast. Normally, I drink 1 cup coffee every day. If I don’t have it, I would get a headache.
Since there was no electricity, and I didn’t have a gas stove (all sold out), I couldn’t have hot coffee. I remembered Daoist wisdom: There is always a way. OK, then, I mixed cold water with instant coffee (luckily I had that for my emergency), and enjoyed a cold coffee!
I had cold bread with peanut butter, with some Papaya from my tree. We had a cold lunch as well, anything in the refrigerator could be our lunch. I remembered when I was in the countryside during the Cultural Revolution in China, we often ate cold food and it did not harm the body.
Since there was no water left in any stores before the hurricane, I boiled water many times that I stored in several pitchers before the hurricane.
Later, when the electricity came back we learned that there were many places and houses that were damaged. And, people who drove out of town to escape the storm had extreme almost unbearable traffic experiences.
We went through the hurricane without panic, without stress, but with peace. I am convinced that by going with the flow with the Dao, we always felt the peace.
