Thunderstorm

I woke up in the middle of the night. It was a strange experience. I had been dreaming that I was on an adult excursion to this really popular swimming pool that was much like a tourist attraction. A sort of theme park, if you will. In my dreams, I was shocked to realise that I had decided to swim in my pink underwear! But there I was, shy, but really wanting to enjoy the pool.

There were other interesing details that stood out in my mind, but I will reserve them for now. It was while I was on the edge of the pool wanting to dive in that I realise something was wrong. My conscious mind was invading my subconscious and telling me the aircon was off.

"wha'?" I slowly came out of my sleep to realize that it WAS hot. And that the aircon WAS off. At that moment I could hear the rain falling down in sheets and thunder that accompanied it. For a while I just lay there in the dark, listening to the sounds. Strangely, they were very comforting.

For so many months now, I had been living in a world trying to wrestle for control over my tasks, situations and projects, to stay on top of them. I was wrestling with people, wrestling with time, wrestling with my skill sets, and wrestling with myself. I had no time to "smell the roses" if you will. My meals were taken in front of my computer and I would be eating while working or during a meeting. I have learned how to eat in 30 minutes flat - and this includes taking the lift down to the food court downstairs, standing in line, waiting for my food, polishing it off, and then going back to the office again.

It was also a time when global was starting to pay attention to the projects AP was carrying out as our Marketing VP had approved a lot of our programs over those proposed by North America. The limelight had incited ambition and we could see colleagues suddenly engaging in power struggles over each other, trying to "recruit" followers, taking on more leadership in various projects than they should, leaving the rest of us nervous at how badly managed their projects then became, etc. The rest of us just try to do our jobs and stay out of the way. It has not been easy.

After months of watching and trying to stay out of these intense human strife for power and control, suddenly I found myself in a state where I was completely powerless. As I heard the sound of the thunder and the furious crash of the rain on th cement ground, I felt extremely consoled and reassured that while we may struggle on earth and sweat over the "small stuff", there is a higher power that is in control and running planet earth, keeping all things in order. After months of strife and fighting deadlines and power struggles, I was finally able to find rest and peace for my soul.

Suddenly, the lights came on again (I sleep with the lights on) as did the aircon. The storm must have triggered our safety rod that shut down our electricity and my dad had got it up again. I got up and switched off the light, enjoying the sounds of the thunderstorm until I fell asleep again.