I hate rainy days. Those gloomy, all day long, gray, rainy days. They’re miserable and all I ever want to do is sleep. I want to hide in my cave of an apartment and sleep. Wake up long enough to eat some soup and then go back to sleep. I have bear-like instincts. It’s yucky outside and I just want to hibernate until the sky looks better. Dreary, rainy days are terrible.
But I love apples, and flowers, and trees, and… breathing.
The thing about rain is, that we need it. We really really need it. As crappy as they are, they are extremely necessary. The rain makes plants grow and plants are good to eat, or look at, or at very least, they create oxygen. Even though I have a negative physical reaction to these days of gloom, I end up really enjoying the result.
Sometimes, things we hate are exactly what we need. Things that make us miserable now, are preparing us for something fantastic in the future. Sometimes we have to put up with today, so that we can enjoy tomorrow. You have to go to work today to earn a paycheck, so you can go out on Friday. Or…..so you can pay your electric bill and not freeze to death in the winter.
It seems to me that God sometimes uses confusing, strange, not so good circumstances and events to shape us into the person we need to become.. the person we’re supposed to become. He brings us to problems so that we learn to trust Him, but also so that we can learn.
It’s no secret that I pretty much despise my boss, but through my interactions with her I am learning to love the unlovable, to overcome evil with kindness, to become more patient. I am learning to pray and forgive someone who does…pretty much nothing to deserve it. If nothing else she has provided me with plenty to blog about and I am *cough* grateful for that opportunity.
And someday…..God please someday… I’m going to have an actual career and this time I’ve spent in oppressive servitude will have given me skills and knowledge I will need. It will help me to appreciate my awesome new job.
What can you really know about yourself if you’ve never experienced pain, or loss, or rejection. If no one has ever been mean to you, or treated you unfairly, how can you appreciate the people in your life who love you? If every day were sunny and 75 degrees, you wouldn’t appreciate the weather. You’d have no basis of comparison. You need to accept the rainy days. Or the snow. A cold day or gloomy winter, makes it all the more glorious when the sun comes back.
Take the time in your current circumstances to learn and grow.
(Photo By pennacook)
Gratitude: Cultivating a habit
I try to keep a Gratitude Journal, though many days I fail to use it. I forget about it, or am too tired (lazy) to pick it up and write. I think gratitude is important in trying to maintain a positive outlook. Try to be thankful for small things as well as big blessings in [...]