What Myth means to me

To me, myths are fantastical stories that come with a message. They supply reasons for hard or confusing times. When a tough situation presents itself, I can always fall back on a myth that relates to that situation. Then, according to how the story went, I can, in a way, learn from others mistakes or good choices and adjust my behavior accordingly. By "others", I mean the main character of the myth. This character usually seems to have personal growth through the story. Myths can also explain natural phenomena. Just like the human situations, this explains something that is not easily understood. For instance, I was just down in New Zealand studying abroad last semester. The worst part about New Zealand was the sand flies. They are like mosquitos, but 100 times worse. The Maori have a myth down there that when the ancient Maori Gods were carving out the sounds and fjords in southern New Zealand, they placed the sand flies there to keep others away while they were working. This seems like the best explanation for the pesky flies because I can not see any other reason for them to be there causing unbearable itchiness. All in all, I think we have myths to explain the things that are not easily understood. This is done with fantastical stories that make the mind wander.