The only thing worse than an entire month of rain is listening to people complain about it. Here in the Northeast, we've been experiencing several weeks without sunshine. I've come to expect that the first words out of anyone's mouth these days is a negative commment about the weather.
Even though I'm a devout sun worshipper, I'd like to play devil's advocate here.
Is it the rain that's a downer, or is it our attitudes about the rain? If we dug just below the surface of our discontent, we would see the gifts in the rain - that our flowers and grass are sporting a happy, colorful glow instead of the parched one they normally show by mid-summer. Or we might see how creative and productive and 'together' our families can be indoors when the sun is not calling us out.
Why is it that we have to dig for the treasures in what we have deemed 'adverse weather'? Because we've been conditioned to a default setting of complaining. Years ago I greeted a new friend with a negative observation about the weather. This older and wiser friend replied, "I've learned not to let the weather affect my mood." Wow! It had never occurred to me that it was possible to be cheery about rain. I had let myself form a belief based on popular sentiment.
Why not buck the trend? Try to see the gifts in a weather pattern, an experience, a person, that you would normally bristle about. As you practice accepting what is and embracing it's gifts, you will automatically change your default setting to one of joy no matter what.
Try singing in the rain like Gene Kelly and feel "happy again." What a glorious feeling.
http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/singinintherain/singinintherain.htm
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
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