Finally! It feels like winter is on its last legs, though, to be honest, the same could probably be said for me.
I’m just getting over a horrific cold and a bug that outstayed its welcome about a week ago. Anyone I’ve grumbled to about feeling unwell, has instantly blamed the weather and the ‘time of year’. To be fair, it has been raining non-stop for what feels like days on end, the skies are endlessly grey, and I think we’d all quite like to give the central heating a well earned rest.
If you’re ever stuck for a way to start a conversation, just mention the weather. Almost every chat I’ve had lately has begun there. My dad joked that the forecast promised rain for forty days and forty nights. Mum said she was “just glad it isn’t snowing.” Someone else called it an awful day, another moaned about how miserable it was…
And yes, maybe it’s the eternal optimist in me, but each time I heard the weather being blamed for a bad day, I found myself thinking the same thing: the weather might be awful, but that doesn’t mean your day has to be.
The weather is the weather. The day is the day. And the two don’t always have to align.
That said, it’s true that weather does affect us. When it’s grey, damp, and heavy outside, we can start to feel grey, damp, and heavy inside too. When the sun comes out and there’s a bit of warmth in the air, suddenly everything feels lighter, brighter, easier. I love the sound of rain, being out in it, not so much. But, lying in bed, I’ll often listen to rainfall music because I find it calming and peaceful. For me, rain isn’t gloomy, it’s comforting.
We all respond to the elements differently. Some people feel most alive in summer sunshine, others in crisp autumn air or the quiet stillness of winter. Maybe that’s because we’re part of nature’s rhythm, not separate from it.
But here’s the important bit, while the weather can influence how we feel, it doesn’t get to decide how our day goes. A dark and stormy sky doesn’t have to mean a dark, brooding mood. Rain doesn’t have to wash the joy and colour out of a day. We’re still responsible for the feeling we carry through it.
Of course, it’s lovely to lean into the seasons. A cosy jumper on a chilly morning. Sunshine warming your face after a long, cold winter. These small moments matter. And just as the world needs sun, rain, cold, warmth, light, and dark to grow and keep moving, we also need the full range of human emotions. Happiness, sadness, joy, peace, contentment and more. And, as the seasons change, so do our moods and emotions. Sometimes we experience a full range of weather and emotions on the same day! One minute it’s pouring with rain, the next moment, a break in the clouds reveals a rainbow beaming down upon us.
So, as winter slowly gives way to spring, my invitation is simple: notice the weather, feel it, even enjoy it, but don’t hand over your mood to it completely. Let the rain be rain, the sun be sun, and allow yourself to choose what kind of day it will be and how you show up in it.
Ultimately, growth, whether in the world around us or within ourselves, requires sun, rain, and everything in between.
Shannon Humphrey is a Youth and Adult Mental Health & Wellbeing Instructor for more information check out www.pathwaysforpositivity.com
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