It’s Raining!

It’s raining, it’s pouring. It’s awesome, isn’t it? I mean… I love the clear and sunny day about 300 times a year but I think we can all appreciate this much-needed rain. For some reason, I feel overly appreciative of the rain. Maybe it’s because we haven’t seen that much of it lately. Then again, that’s what makes us appreciate it when it comes, isn’t it?

As human beings, we seem to want every day to be sunny, each night to be cloudless, and each “tomorrow” to be filled with hope and promise.
But not every day will be sunny and bright — not every night will be warm and inviting. Cold days will come, and winter brings with it long patches of cloudy days and stormy nights.

As for the weather, not every day will be fabulous and easy. Many will be difficult and challenging.

As I’ve confronted the demons in my own life over the years, I’ve soon learned that it’s the sorrow and challenge in our lives that help us to understand and value the joyful days. Without the storm, do we really understand the value of a sunny day? Without the clouds, would we really value the blue, sunny sky?

It is the challenges in our lives that define and refine us. The challenges make us grow, make us learn, and make us change. Like fine-grit sandpaper, they sand off the rough spots and polish us up to a fine shine.
It is the clouds in our lives that highlight the great times — it is the downturn that makes the upturn seem all more special. We learn soon to gain wisdom from our experiences, gain understanding from our challenges, to gain empathy from our sorrow. We become a greater person because of the difficult times that find their way into our lives.

Now, just as a person can’t live happily on a diet of cloudy days, in our lives, we cannot deal well with a constant supply of nothing but trouble — but that doesn’t mean we should reject the challenges — we must learn from them, grow from them, see their beauties, learn their worth.
The difficult times we go through, and how we react to those difficult times, more than anything else will define the kind of person we become.

And it will certainly allow you to appreciate the sunny days a heck of a lot more. I know I do.

Have a great weekend.