Day Twenty

I hate rain. Rain, wind, cold – I have the unfortunate bad habit of acting like it is a personal affront to me when the weather doesn’t cooperate with my wishes. Rain is a leading cause of crankiness in my life. Give me 82 degrees and sunshine any day.

I can feel however I want about the weather, but – of course – it’s not about me. The weather needs to do what it does. The rain is necessary for life. That doesn’t mean I have to like it. It does mean that I can’t really do anything about it.  

Many of our days will not be 82 and sunny. We can accept this reality and still be upset about it. We don’t have to feel like we’re putting on a false face of gratitude – like we’re so wise that we’ve come to appreciate all our struggles and suffering in life with absolute peace, or like we truly believe that “everything happens for a reason.” Sometimes stuff’s just awful.  

The gratitude, on these rainy days, isn’t for the pain in our lives. But there can be gratitude in the renewal rain brings. Tears are necessary for healing. A fallow season makes the crops grow taller. Sometimes someone else gets to decide how things go for us, whether that’s another person, or a big, impersonal organization, or a nasty cumulous cloud. It isn’t always fair. But in our lament, when we feel frustrated, like we can’t move forward – we leave space for fallow ground. There are times when that is truly what is needed.  

Don’t do anything today. Rest. Let the rain in your life just be the rain that it is. No need for distraction. Tomorrow, you can return to the gratitude practice.

- Lee