As you know, we find some of our relationship lessons in the unlikliest of places and circumstances and this article below is no exception....
Like a lot of people last week, we were watching more than our share of the Weather Channel, CNN and other news outlets to get the latest updates on Hurricane Ike as it approached the Texas and Gulf coast areas of the US.
As we watched the approach of Hurricane Ike, we had no idea that we would be affected by it because we live in Ohio (which is pretty far north and east.)
Now, of course we saw nothing approaching the magnitude of destruction that people along the Texas and Gulf
coastal areas saw, felt and are still feeling and experiencing.
Here in Ohio, we got the remnants of Hurricane Ike and had wind gusts for several hours of up to 75 MPH.
As you can imagine, these high winds caused quite a bit of damage to homes, trees, power lines, etc.
Our power was out for 26 hours and even though many of our neighbors weren't so lucky, we didn't have any damage to our home or property and for that we are very grateful.
As we think about the people in Texas, Louisiana, and other areas (including many people right in our own city) who still don't have power, clean drinking water and other things we think of as life's essentials-- our hearts, thoughts and prayers go out to you.
As we look back on the night we didn't have power, there are important insights about relationships and daily living we want to share with you and here they are...
One big "ah ha" that we learned was how much of the way we live our lives depends on electricity and what we can and can't do if we don't have it.
We also learned how much time we spend watching television, movies or on the internet rather than interacting with each other and other people.
The two of us always spend time each day interacting and connecting with each other but since Otto's 19 year old son moved in with us to go to college nearby, we haven't interacted much as a family.
We did during the power outage!
The three of us talked more than we usually do as we sat on the porch and watched the last part of the storm blow through and then we went to our friend and neighbor's house and played the board game scrabble by candle light.
Neighbors who never met one another helped each other out.
It took a several hour power outage for us to come together to do some things to connect in ways that we don't normally do.
The challenge now is to keep connecting without having our electrical power shut off.
How about you?
Maybe Hurricane Ike didn't affect you but we're inviting you to do something this week that you wouldn't normally do to connect with others--without the television or computer.
Play a game together--dust off games like monopoly, scrabble or Risk. Take a walk or just sit and talk with someone you haven't seen in awhile or even a loved one you haven't really connected with. Help others out in ways you might not normally do.
For one evening, act as if you have no power, light candles and just be together.
As conscious and connected as the two of us try to be--our power outage was a big wake up call for us that we can do a better job of opening to each other and connecting deeper.
We're hoping you can take a cue from us and open yourself to experimenting with how to connect on a deeper level with the people in your life.
If all this seems kind of silly or not necessary then let us offer one more suggestion that might be valuable for you...
Make the intention to just have one meaningful conversation with someone this week.
Start there and see how you feel. We think it will spur you on to want to connect more with the people in your life.
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