A surprising reality of living in the UAE is the wet marine fog which often blankets the coastal cities in the morning winter hours. At ground level, it ensures drivers will struggle to see ahead. Speed warnings are posted on the roads and social media. Even at 19 floors above the ground, all I can see is a white midst. As the sun climbed above the cloud layer, even it was a ghostly white instead of its usual golden yellow.
In contrast, just a kilometer away, a friend with a high floor apartment looks out on bright sunny morning. The palm shadows are long, the air still, and the white floor all around the view deceptively spinning a story.
Depending on who one listen’s to, the morning is either bright, cheery, and full of possibilities or cool, wet, and filled with caution. Mentally, I know the weather is the same for us both. Emotionally, I feel what I feel. It is cool and the air is unusually wet. I cannot see the ground, although the road sounds are eerie reminders of days gone by.
How I choose to feel about what I am experiencing will shape a large part of the day which follows. Life reminds me that this choice mirrors my decision point on happiness. Am I happy in this moment? Should I be happy?
When I read a historical note from the psalmist, “God was wonderful to us; we are one happy people” (Psalm 126.3), I know with certainty that life was no better than those who were complaining at the time. The difference was one of trust and hope. With hope-filled trust of what will come today, I step out knowing that my inability to see very far is temporary. It will not last. My vision and the anticipation which comes with it will return, sooner than I realize!
Even as the white sun slowly turns the fog to a pure white blanket, I chose to see beyond this moment in faith of what is coming. It is a good to be alive.
