This Simple Tool Can Improve Your Life Immediately
Photo courtesy of AllClear55 from Pixabay
“Humans see what they want to see.” ― Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief
I have a very dear friend who thoroughly detests cloudy, cool, rainy weather. She loves, needs, craves fresh air, the outdoors, going for walks — pretty much anything as long as it’s not inside. If she’s forced to remain indoors because it’s not a nice sunny day, she feels confined, restricted and “suffocated.”
Most people who watch television are enjoying talk shows, sit-coms, soap operas, sports, game shows, entertainment, cooking, history, comedy — you name it — there’s no end to the choices. But not this friend of mine. Nope.
She watches the weather channel.
In all my life, I don’t believe I’ve ever met anyone else who does that. I mean, apart from wanting a quick weather-check to see what clothing you need for the day or whether you should still go ahead with those picnic plans.
Oh, no. My friend turns it on in the morning and watches. And watches. And watches. And watches! It’s something I’ve always found to be rather weird but immensely endearing about her at the same time. But hey, it’s me, so I can do weird, no problem. That’s probably why it’s also endearing!
Another thing about my sweet friend, she’s always drinking water. My goodness, I thought I was bad for that but she probably consumes half of Niagara Falls in any given day. Always a bottle or a glass of the clear stuff being lifted to her mouth. I’m sure she hooks herself up to one of those hamster bottles at night so she can keep sipping while she sleeps.
She goes on and on at length about how much she loves seeing the flowers bloom and new leaves coming out on trees. She adores nature at the height of its summertime glory. She spent a month with me here in England one year. She arrived in mid-March and she was extremely excited by the fact that we had colourful flowers and greenery.
But when she went back home to Toronto a month later, there wasn’t one leaf to be seen and not a splash of colour anywhere.
I remember her writing shortly after that to say one or two flowering bushes were just beginning to grow again. She was like a little kid, so excited about spring finally making its tentative appearance. Then just a couple of days later, she wrote to say the weather was enough to make her want to hop off a cliff! “SOOOOOO much rain,” she said.
If I ever want to know what mood she’s in, all I have to do is check the weather in Toronto. That’s all the information I need. No point in even writing to ask.
I don’t like it when my friends are in distress. So after years of listening to her being in such a knot about wet weather, I figured perhaps I’d do more than offer sympathy. I wanted to offer something more useful.
So after receiving her email about her weather woes that day, I got on the horn.
“Do you remember how much you loved loved loved the flowers and greenery when you were here?”
“Oh, yes!!!!! It was SO BEAUTIFUL!”
“Do you remember how much you hated going back home and finding not even one little leaf waiting to greet you?”
“Oh, yeah, that was awful! It was so brown and dead! It just looked — ”
I interrupted. I knew where she was headed! “And you really hate the rain!”
“Yes! It makes me feel so miserable! I can’t get out for any air!” (Yes, darling, I know… and I understand!)
“Well, if you want the pretty flowers and all that green stuff, you have to put up with the rain, right?”
A brief silence. The wheels began to turn. A hesitant. “Ye-e-e-es.”
“And have you noticed how thirsty you are and how much water you need, and how much of it you’re always drinking?”
More silence. A few grinding gears, and then “Ye-e-e-es.”
“Well, where do you think it comes from? You love to water your garden. You need to drink lots of water. What happens when it doesn’t rain for a long time?”
Silence.
I continued, on a roll. “We have droughts. Stuff dies. Our consumption of water is restricted. If it goes on long enough, we die, too. Don’t you think it’s time you started to love the rain?”
“Oh! I never looked at it that way before!”
“Be grateful for the rain! Thank the rain! Appreciate the rain! You have no control over the rain. You have no control over the fact that gardens need it, the earth needs it, we need it — everyone and everything will die without it. You cannot change any of that. So if you have a problem with rain but you can’t change it, the only thing you can do to feel better about it is so change how you view the rain.”
A big, bright halogen moment hovered over her head as she understood what I was saying. She was excited about this new perspective and thought perhaps it would help her cope with rainy weather in the future. She has needed a little reminder nudge now and then but for the most part, that shift in how she viewed the rain made all the difference in the world.
When you cannot change a situation that distresses, irritates or annoys you in any way, the only thing you can do to feel better is to change how you view it. A shift in your perspective can go a lo-o-o-o-o-o-ong way to making you much happier.
Spiritual Arts Mentor and Master Teacher, Liberty Forrest, guides you in discovering who you are, why you’re here, and how to follow that path.