Can’t Stop the Rain

If you live in southeastern North Carolina you have experienced the wettest summer in a long while. We have already exceeded our average annual rainfall a little over seven months into 2018. Everywhere you go and in most everything you read, you will find complaints, frustration and even anger. We miss the sun and blue sky, the beach and breeze, the outdoor concerts and farmer’s markets. Everything is just WET. When will the rain ever stop?!

Back in 2008 the Department of Agriculture declared 59 North Carolina counties disaster areas due to the drought effect on crops. All 100 counties were experiencing some level of drought. Crops were stunted, lawns were brown and we had water usage restrictions. A lot of farmers were worried and people were worn out from the heat. Everything was just so DRY. When will it ever rain?, we lamented.

I might go on and make similar observations of our human ‘suffering’ after back-to-back hurricanes, two weeks of freezing temperatures or even the early darkness that results at the end of daylight savings time. Most of us have not learned to appreciate the beauty in Mother Nature when she gets stuck in a cycle. We resist and we moan and we suffer.

Here’s a thought. Love the rain, love the heat, love the freeze and love the early darkness. Love them just because. Don’t spend your precious life being unhappy with the weather. Decide to be happy because you are alive. If you can feel the rain, the heat, the freeze, and experience the early darkness it means you are alive. Love feeling alive in all of it.

To love feeling alive does not mean life is always easy, our plans always work out, or that we always get what we want. To love feeling alive is to embrace the moment…each one.

Why not?
Paula