The Rain

I have turned to Mother Nature and the rain many times over the past months and tonight was no exception.   It is a dark, windy, rainy night and I had choir practice.  As someone who has fully embraced downtown living, my commutes are almost always on foot or kick scooter so weather matters more than it might if I made use of the shelter of my car.

Before leaving, I had just exchanged a few texts with my ex-husband and he had transferred my car over to me in the Tesla app.  The transfer process went incredibly well but the premium subscription which didn't expire for many months that we had paid for didn't transfer over as well.  As much as my ex assured me it would, I was pretty sure this would be the case so I was kind of expecting it.  But what it does mean is another cost for me right now which is incredibly frustrating.  

And this is all on the heels of going into work Tuesday to discover without warning, they started the process to replace my ID which meant I would not be able to telework for the foreseeable future and would be limited in what systems I could access.  It is going to be a painful couple weeks and a bit stressful as I worry about my already approved telework over the holiday.  And that was after the damaged spreadsheet that is making me re-create 2 weeks worth of data, last week's election, and countless other setbacks.  Maybe I'm rambling but I say all this to set up the mindset I was in.

So as I started on my walk in the rain and wind, my first focus was on how miserable a night it was.  But it didn't take many blocks before I saw the reminder the rain was trying to give me that there is so much in life we can't control.  We can sit and stew and complain about it which accomplishes nothing or we can focus on what we can control - our reaction and what we make of life.

So I looked down at the bright pink rain jacket I was wearing.  It was now big enough to cover my iPad bag so that both my body and my device were staying dry.  Part of my response to the rain (and weather in general) is dressing for it.

And then I just took in the sensations of the rain pouring over my face and let it wash away all the anger, the disappointment, and the sadness of recent setbacks.  There is something so refreshing and nourishing about the rain even on a "miserable" night.