It's no secret that cloudy skies and ceaseless rain depress me. (Yet I live in the Pacific Northwest.) The thought crosses my mind, quite often, (especially this time of year which for me, is the worst in the Pacific Northwest) that I hate living here. Because stick a fork in me, I'm done. I think, "Why do we live here?" "Why does anyone live here?" "Why is there all this traffic and all these houses?" "What is wrong with all these people anyway that they would live here?"
Sometimes I'm a lot of fun.
Yesterday I was driving kids hither and yon and there was a sunbreak. (Happy day!) It was beautiful! The trees are blooming. Heather is bright and purple in yards. Tulips and daffodils are showing their pretty heads. The evergreen trees are...well, evergreen...and the deciduous trees, the ones that aren't a riot of pink blossoms, are encased in a halo of tender bright green leaves. And then there's the grass. The lawns are greenest green you've ever seen.
And why?
Because of all the rain.
Perhaps me expecting sunshine all the time and this gorgeous verdant landscape is like thinking my house would be perfectly clean all the time if I never cleaned it. You've got to have the rain.
Then I started thinking about suffering in general. Like rain and cloudy skies, it's not pleasant. I don't like feeling overwhelmed or wronged or stressed or weighed down with any of the things that weigh us down as humans. But maybe, just like Seattle needs rain to put on this show, we need the struggles. When I think about people I most admire, they have seen their share of rain. They've been buffeted by the storms of life and like these tall tall trees around here, they've stood their ground. They've taken strength from the experiences. They've become better.
So, for today, I'll appreciate the rain.
For today.
(I'll be OK if it's sunny though.)
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