It all puts complaining about the weather in perspective.

I admit, I was getting a little dragged down with the length and severity of this winter, and I am as ready for spring as the next person, but witnessing the devastation of the earthquake and the resulting tsunami last week put an end to my grumbling.

I am so blessed to live in a place where Mother Nature, at her harshest, only provides a mild inconvenience to my day-to-day life. I am grateful for the safety of my home, the health of my family and the choices I have everyday. Families in Japan had most of their choices removed, their homes swept away and members of their families lost.

I honour all who the devastation touched personally by shifting my perspective. I send loving healing energy to them, and a belief in their ability to rise again.

The aftershocks continue, and the ripples are more than physical.

In his 1946 chronicle of his experiences as a concentration camp inmate, ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’ Viktor Frankl observed: “Everything can be taken from a man but …the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

We all have the choice.

No amount of rage at the earthquake will bring back their loved ones.

No amount of anger with the tsunami will replace their lost homes.

No amount of frustration with the floods will repair the damage.

No amount of fear regarding the nuclear plants will secure them.

Mother Nature will not respond to rage, anger, frustration or fear by making everything “as it was”.

The earthquake, tsunami and the resulting damage are what I call “An Is”, and the only response to “An Is” in life is “Now What?”

“Now What?”

There is a huge amount of work to be done, and Japan needs the support of the whole world. That support is coming, from countries, organizations and individuals like you and I. What can we do? That is up to each of us to decide. Whatever decision you make, I would ask you to consider giving your support from the right side of the line. Be conscious of your perspective.

By the right side of the line I mean the side that is uplifting and loving, rather than the side of the line of fear and pity.

Japan does not need our sympathy. They need our belief in them.

They do not need our worry, they need our encouragement.

They do not need our tears, they need our strength.

Whatever support you may be giving –monetary or time, physical or energetic, choose your attitude. Japan has enough suffering, send your support with hope.

Every time I look toward the west, I send a loving prayer of healing energy – to the families of Japan and to the earth, and then I give profound gratitude for the blessings I often take for granted. I’m making a renewed promise to appreciate the good that is, daily.

Namaste,

Suze