“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.” ― Anne Bradstreet, The Works of Anne Bradstreet

Saturday morning I walked out of my building and felt a cold drizzle on my face. I felt alive! I love rainy days and winter the same way people like summer and sunshine.  As I was walking and basking in the moment a woman coming out of a store bumps into me.  Instead of saying excuse me or good morning, she says:  “It is such a miserable day!”  I think she mostly said it to herself and not to me, but still it felt like the wrong thing to say.

At that moment it hit me that this woman was setting herself up to have a bad day just because of a little cold rain.  I don’t understand it. Why do people let the weather dictate their mood? I know that there are some people that suffer from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), but I think the majority of people just have a dislike for winter weather and not any real disorder.

“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.”― Epictetus

I am not here to defend the rain and winter and to say start loving the cold weather.  Oh wait, I am here to do just that! First, I am here to say that each one of us, human, animal, object, weather patterns, etc, we all have our functions to perform to the best of our abilities.  We cannot blame the rain for being wet and messing up our hair or blame the cold because we can no long wear shorts.  They are doing their job and deserve respect.  Second, I am here to tell you to appreciate everything around you, specially the things that may annoy you or make your life a little more complicated.  Appreciate the things you love, such as sunshine, but appreciate the things that you don’t care for even more.  Find a way to see beauty and meaning in them.

“The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

I happen to love rain and snow, so rainy days and snowy days are particularly pleasant to me.  Yes, go ahead and hate me for it. 🙂  I also like dark places with curtains and windows closed.  I adore days that when I wake up it is so dark that I cannot tell if it is day or night.  Don’t get alarmed I like light and sun light too, I do! I just see the beauty and comfort in thunderstorms outside while I am cozy inside.  Perhaps I am, in a way, hiding from the world.  I think a psychologist would have a wonderful time with me! 🙂 I am so happy and yet so dark.

I am also saying if change your mind your outlook will change and that will only yield positive results.  Specially in the morning when you have the whole day ahead, don’t let little, or big, things set yourself up  to having a bad day.  Don’t call the day miserable because of a little rain.  What will make the day miserable or not is your attitude towards it.

“At the end of the day, let there be no excuses, no explanations, no regrets.” ― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

Rain to me is life! Cold to me is energy! Snow to me is beauty and challenge (as in skiing)!  Dark to me is comfort!  Loving summer, sun, spring, flowers, that is easy, the value is in loving what is the difficult.

What would summer be without winter?  Not as pleasurable that is for sure!

Don’t use the weather, or anything else, as an excuse to be miserable!

The other day while cleaning some files I came across the little card pictured below.  I put it on my bathroom mirror so that every day I have an extra reminder to begin my day with gratitude in my heart!