Nature is a powerful teacher that offers daily life lessons. It teaches us that there is beauty all around us in sunrises, sunsets, clouds, plants, and pretty much anywhere we look, if only we pay attention. The change of the seasons reminds us that there is a natural rhythm and flow to life and that changes unfold in due time. This afternoon, I found myself in the role of an unassuming student, as I drove in the rain.
Rain was in the forecast, and as I headed out, raindrops began to fall harder and faster against my windshield. Rain showers, especially during summertime, are not unusual, but this rain shower was different. As I switched on my windshield wipers, I readjusted my sunglasses. Despite a steady downpour, the sun was shining, and the sky was more blue than gray.
While I have seen the sun out during a rain shower, it is not something that I see very often. So, it caught my attention this afternoon. As I watched the mixture of rain and sunshine and heard the rumble of thunder in the distance, I thought about the coexistence of the figurative sunshine and rain in life.
Too often, we may feel like we have to pick a side when it comes to our feelings. We may feel one way about something, yet tell ourselves that we should not feel that way and should feel another way. For example, I was feeling really frustrated with an ongoing technical glitch for my website, rightfully so, but I immediately started to chastise myself for how I felt. This only made me feel worse.
My foul mood perfectly matched the foul weather, until I took a cue from the rain and the sun. Instead of telling myself that I shouldn’t feel a particular way or masking my feelings with fake positivity, I made room for both the frustration about the technical woes and the joy of engaging in work that I truly love. I didn’t have to choose one or the other, as I could experience both feelings simultaneously, just like it could be rainy and sunny at the same time.
Once I was reminded of the duality of feelings, my mood did not automatically go from gloomy to bright, but it did begin to shift. I allowed myself to have a good cry out of sheer frustration, and I also allowed myself to enjoy creating new content for my business. I stopped judging and resisting the feelings, and in the end, they both played out, much like the weather outside.
Some days are rainy, some days are sunny, and still other days are both. Whatever the weather may be outside and however we may feel inside, sometimes, we just need to ride them out and wait for them to pass, because they always do.
