“Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain.” —Author Unknown
I know that I don’t have to remind everyone that we need rain and I also don’t have to remind myself that several days of rain in a row can become annoying. I’ve even caught myself being a bit off as a result of all the rain we’ve had. And, of course, for those with outdoor plans, it can be outright unpleasant.
[Please note: I’m not talking of those who live in our area who have been significantly impacted by the flooding and other life-altering events as a result of the recent rains. I’m talking about those of us who are just tired of it and would rather have sunshine.]
What I do want to remind everyone is that there’s absolutely nothing we can do about it. So, we come to my favorite topic: what choice do you have?
In the midst of all the complaining one friend posted: “lovely, rainy Sunday.” So why does this friend find the rain lovely when many are so very unhappy? And, no, she’s not crazy, or at least she’s not diagnosable—I know her well! However, she is an optimist, which I believe has contributed greatly to her success and made her a great person to be around.
So when you have no choice—over the rain or anything else, what is your ultimate choice? You can choose to be an optimist or you can choose to be a pessimist. It really is up to you and, yes, you can choose to be optimistic - even if you think you are a born pessimist.
According to Martin, E.P. Seligman, Ph.D., “At the core of the phenomenon of pessimism is another phenomenon—that of helplessness (Seligman, Martin, E.P, Learned Optimism, Simon and Schuster, 1998).” He continues, “Helplessness is the state of affairs in which noting what you choose to do affects what happens to you.”
In the case of the rain, nothing you do will make it stop. You are truly powerless over the weather. However, there are many things over which we have control. Certainly you do have control over whether you allow the rain to ruin your day or if you choose to make other plans and work with what simply is. In this case, it’s the rain.
You can find beauty; you can even find solace and in the worst cases, you can dig deep and find some way to deal with it—or of course, you can simply complain a lot or just give up. It really is up to you whether you are happy with most situations or miserable. I don’t know about you, but I choose happy and I’m learning to surround myself with others who think the same. And, then, I look forward to the rainbow!
What about you?
Gayle LaSalle is an author and professional leadership facilitator. She can be contacted by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or online by visiting www.gaylelasalle.com.
