Rain

Category : Uncategorized

For a few fleeting moments this afternoon, the sun somewhat made an attempt to peek out from behind the clouds. The rain ceased, momentarily, and brightness waged a battle with the grayness of the clouds. In a mindful moment, I happened to catch this brief glimpse of hope the sun provided. A small ray of hope that things will be brighter, and drier, in the near future. It also made me reflect on how hard it is to find that beacon of hope in the vast amount of dreary gray. Had my schedule not aligned, the blinds on my window not open, or my mind distracted by responsibilities, I may have missed this few moments of the gift that served as a reminder that better days shall come. This can be similar to mental health. When all is dark, gray, dreary, and uncomfortable it can be hard to catch a glimpse of the brightness that struggles to break through the clouds. Yet, we know the sun is there. Somewhere. And we also know we need the rain clouds. One of my favorite quotes reads as follows:

“The word ‘happiness’ would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness.” – Jung

We need sadness sometimes. To experience emotions is to be human. Even the uncomfortable ones serve a purpose. It is our job to find that purpose. Just like the rain provides water for life. The sun provides energy. It can be hard to see at times. It can be hard to find at times. It can seem never ending and hopeless at times. We may need help to find it, yet, it’s there.  My wish for you is that you find that elusive, brief ray of sunshine when feeling down. Damp. Dark. It’s there, even if you can’t catch a glimpse at this very moment.

In a related topic, the weather can greatly influence our mood. There are those who love rain. Those who strongly dislike rain. Everydayhealth.com shares distinct types of people and their view on weather patterns. There are summer lovers who experience a better mood in warmer and sunnier weather, summer haters who experience a worse mood with warm, sunny weather, and rain haters who experience a bad mood on rainy days. There are also those who are unaffected and experience minimal changes in mood based on the weather. Pluviophiles are people who love the rain and find it to be healing and relaxing. PsychCentral.com describes a link found between aggression and higher temperatures. Rainfall was also found to increase aggression for people. Yet, these two things may not be correlated. Could they? Some studies, according to PsychCentral.com, have possibly linked life satisfaction with the weather. On sunnier days, people report being happier with their life. On rainy days, less report being satisfied with their lives. This research? It’s really not clear. Like the sky today. Research aside, make the best of the day and remember that there is a chance the sky will eventually clear and we will see the sun again.