How to Read “After a storm comes a calm”
Arashi no ato ni wa nagi ga kuru
Meaning of “After a storm comes a calm”
This proverb means that peaceful times always follow difficult situations. Life brings painful periods and trials, but they don’t last forever. Eventually, calm days return.
People use this saying to encourage someone going through hard times. It also helps you keep hope when facing your own difficulties.
The proverb offers comfort and courage to people facing various hardships. These might include illness, job loss, or relationship troubles. It tells them, “Things are tough now, but better times will come.”
This teaching holds value in modern society too. In our stressful world, remembering that difficulties are temporary brings peace of mind.
The proverb teaches the importance of enduring without giving up. It uses nature’s patterns to show us this truth.
Origin and Etymology
This proverb uses ocean phenomena as a metaphor for life. “Storm” refers to violent weather with strong winds and rain. “Calm” describes the state when wind stops and the sea surface becomes peaceful.
Japan is an island nation surrounded by ocean on all sides. Fishing and maritime trade have been closely tied to people’s lives since ancient times.
Sailors and fishermen risked their lives facing the sea. Through experience, they learned nature’s law: no matter how fierce a storm, the wind always stops and waves always settle.
This ocean cycle overlapped with the universal truth of life’s difficulties and peace repeating. This is how the saying became established as a proverb.
The choice of the word “nagi” deserves special attention. Rather than simply saying “quiet” or “peaceful,” using “nagi” conveys the stillness after a storm more vividly.
“Nagi” is a term specific to ocean phenomena. This expression captures the wisdom of seafaring people.
No clear first written record exists. However, this proverb has been passed down for generations. It represents life wisdom based on natural observation, born from Japan’s culture as a maritime nation.
Usage Examples
- A company president overcame a business crisis because he believed “After a storm comes a calm” and never gave up. That’s why the company exists today.
- I felt depressed after failing my entrance exam. But remembering “After a storm comes a calm” helped me look forward again.
Universal Wisdom
Humans have always fought the fear that suffering might last forever. When we’re in the midst of difficulty, our perspective narrows. Our current pain feels endless.
This psychological trap is what drives people to despair.
This proverb has been passed down for generations because it understands human weakness. It offers a remedy for it.
In nature, even the fiercest storm always ends. This is an absolute law. By applying this to life, our ancestors showed us a light of hope.
They taught that “suffering always has an end.”
The human heart can endure amazing difficulties when hope exists. But without hope, even small suffering can crush us.
This proverb gives people in hardship a conviction: “This is not forever.” It draws out the strength to endure. This isn’t mere comfort. It’s truth based on nature’s laws.
Our ancestors saw life’s ups and downs reflected in the ocean’s rhythms. They understood that change itself is the normal state.
Bad conditions don’t continue forever. Similarly, good conditions aren’t eternal either. Understanding both sides was the wisdom for surviving life.
When AI Hears This
Looking at storms from an energy perspective reveals surprising facts. A typhoon’s energy output is about 600 billion kilowatt-hours per day.
This equals Japan’s entire annual electricity consumption. This massive energy accumulates as heat from ocean evaporation. It converts into kinetic energy as updrafts and wind.
In other words, a storm is a state where energy concentrates abnormally in one location.
According to the second law of thermodynamics, energy always flows from high to low. Eventually it spreads evenly. When a storm rages, energy dispersal is actually proceeding at tremendous speed.
Strong winds equalize temperature differences. Waves mix seawater. Rain carries heat to the ground. Through this process, concentrated energy scatters to the surroundings and eventually gets used up.
The key point is that this process is completely irreversible. Scattered energy never naturally gathers again to create a storm.
Calm isn’t the end of a storm. It’s the completed state of energy dissipation. Like a drop of milk in coffee that never returns to being one drop, storm energy never returns once dispersed.
This proverb accurately captured the direction the universe must take. It understood entropy increase, the arrow of time.
Lessons for Today
This proverb teaches modern people about time as an ally. We tend to seek instant solutions. But many problems naturally move toward resolution with time.
Rather than rushing into forced actions, sometimes patience to wait out the storm is the necessary choice.
In modern society, social media shows us only others’ happy moments. This can make you feel like you’re the only one suffering. But everyone experiences life’s storms.
If you’re in difficulty now, understand that it’s not abnormal. It’s a natural part of life.
What matters is not letting go of hope during the storm. Situations always change. Today’s suffering won’t necessarily continue with the same intensity tomorrow.
Little by little, you’re surely approaching calm. Hold that conviction and treasure each day.
And when you reach your calm period, share these words with someone in their storm. Hope is something passed from person to person.
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