Hurricane Sandy: 5 Important Lessons Learned

Flooding from Hurricane Sandy at Ground Zero. Photo taken from Yahoo.com

This morning while I was listening to the news reports about Hurricane Sandy, I couldn’t help but feel a mix of thankfulness that I was no longer living in Brooklyn and a feeling of dread for all of my friends and loved ones who had to go through the hurricane in the Northeast last night. Hurricane Sandy has done an insane amount of damage leaving 40 dead so far, thousands with severe damage to their homes and millions without power across the United States. My heart is heavy for those who’ve lost someone they love to this storm. I’ve spent a ton of time today, just calling and checking on loved ones and friends to make sure they were safe. This hurricane has made me realize so many things. I’d like to share with you 5 Important Lessons Learned from Hurricane Sandy:

1. The Importance of Staying In Touch- As I was trying to call and check on loved ones today, I realized that I hadn’t dialed some of those numbers in MONTHS. Sometimes it’s so easy for us to get caught up in our own lives and what’s happening now, that we sometimes put people we love and care about on the back burner thinking we can always call them “later”. Today, I realized that “later” isn’t always guaranteed and that I need to maintain my friendships and relationships NOW.

2. The Importance of Saying I Love You- I’ve always been a relatively unaffectionate person. I guess part of the reason is because I was always worried the other person would think it was weird or somehow shun me for it. After this hurricane I realize now that life is too short to not tell someone you care about them.

3. The Importance of Saying Sorry- In the past, I’ve had the tendency to be the person to be stubborn and not apologize even though I know I was wrong. I’m realizing now that there’s no time for that. It’s important to man up and admit when you’re wrong while you still have the chance.

4. The Importance of Letting Go of Grudges- This goes along with point #3. We see it in movies constantly, where someone dies and there’s always that one person who regrets not forgiving them. The person who regrets not trying to make things right. Don’t be that person!

5. The Importance of Living Life to The Fullest- I feel like this is pretty self explanatory. None of us know how long we have on this earth. It’s so crucial that we live each day as if it were our last. Few things are worse than a life unlived.

I hope all of you are safe and warm and with the ones you love.