Step out of your rain puddle!

Rain puddles. As kids we love them, we jump in them, we splash dirty tire water all over ourselves without a care. It’s the best! Somehow, we reach a point and all of a sudden rain puddles are the worst. We jump over them, walk around them, and if you’re a parent, you yell at your kids to “watch out for the puddle!” For some reason avoiding soggy shoes and wet pants is far more important than the absolute joy of being a kid and playing in a puddle. We get to this place where, when we find ourselves in a metaphorical rain puddle, we pout. We throw a fit, or complain, we miss the rainbows surrounding our head as we stare miserable at our soggy feet. We curse the puddle and stand there scowling when all we had to do is step out. What a concept! We so often wait for the rain, and forget to look for the rainbows.

Rain is inevitable. Not only is it inevitable, it’s necessary. This world we love will die without the rain. Yet so many curse it. How many times do we wake up to a rainstorm and want to throw the day away instead of stepping out and embracing the life its giving. We get so focused on the sun that we forget why the rain is even needed. Warmth is amazing, but warmth can’t give you a drink. Like this world we live in, we would die without the rain. The metaphorical rain that showers us not only quenches us, it washes us clean. It washes away the caked on dirt we carry and leaves us room to shine. When you find yourself standing in a puddle after a storm, you can stand there and wait for the world around your feet to dry up, or you can look up, find your rainbow, and step towards it. You get to choose how you handle your storms and you get to decide how long you’ll stand in the puddle waiting for the universe to cater to your feet.

This world owes us nothing. There is no magic potion or special solution that allows you to live in the sunlight. Success isn’t living a life of flowery fields and butterflies. It’s sunny days and stormy nights, it’s soaking up the sun and dancing in the rain. Rainbows wouldn’t exist without the rain and you my friend, wouldn’t know how to appreciate the sun if you’ve never experienced the rain. There is a very wrong misconception that life is a challenge to be solved. That the only way you know you’re doing it right is when everything is awesome. I agree with that to an extent, you are doing it right if everything is awesome, but we may have totally different views of what awesome is. Awesome doesn’t mean perfect. That’s not possible, perfect doesn’t exist. We all have our strengths but we never reach a place where we are above anyone else. We will always, always need others. We will learn from all of those around us. This universe offers abundance freely, but obtaining it isn’t free. It takes work, it takes gratefulness, it takes humility. We are here to learn our lessons and be the best soul we can. We aren’t here to out live someone, or be better than others. Our journey isn’t to be compared or judged. This world is full of intricate and varying plants and animals. Every single one plays a vital role. From the smallest fly to the largest whale, not one is more important than the other, nor does it try to be. It is content and proud in its role and performs it happily. This race we have created is all a human thing, its ego. The instinct to recoil from adversity and strive for “greatness” is the biggest lie we have ever told ourselves. The other lie we love to feed on is entitlement. When we are hit with a storm it isn’t our role to stand there and wait for the world to right us. Shake it off and step the hell out of your puddle.

I challenge you to find joy in the rain, embrace the comfort of being uncomfortable. Our human brain is our biggest enemy in all of this, we want all the reward and none of the work. Funny thing, we decide what the work is. The rain didn’t come into the world thinking it was inconvenient. It comes to save us, quench us, and allow us to thrive. This life is indeed filled with hardships and pain and lots of tough lessons, but the minute we choose to be grateful for them, is the minute they stop being our enemy. Without these, we would have no way of knowing what being balanced means. The sun by itself is death, its drying and hot and relentless. When we balance the sun with night and rain, we thrive. We can appreciate the fun in the sun, but allow the night and rain to reset us. This is much like our spiritual life. If you live just for the sun, reject all the other important, if uncomfortable, parts of this journey, you may survive but you will never thrive. The sun that was at first so warm and inviting will eventually burn you. Badly. The minute I gave up trying to be what I perceived is expected of someone succeeding, I gave myself room to actually succeed. The minute I chose to love every part of me and this journey, I became someone that easily loved others and their journey as well. There is a rainbow for every storm, find yours! When you do, step out of your puddle and enjoy all the beauty the rain uncovered.