On Rainy Days...

It's Sunday morning and, as per my usual routine, I've been sitting here consuming a Starbucks venti white chocolate mocha, reading the newspaper, doing the crossword puzzle, and enjoying the simple peace and quiet that accompanies lazy Sunday mornings.

It's also Mother's Day, so don't forget to call your mother, if you're fortunate enough to have one.

The familiar warmth of fragmented sunlight peeking through the wooden slats of the window blinds is noticeably absent this morning. Rain drops pelt the glass at a moderate rate, adding some sort of irregular melody to my methodical completion of the New York Times crossword, one painstaking clue at a time.

Things have been hectic as of late, and to a greater extend, unpredictable. Myriad choices and obstacles have been placed in my path in the past few weeks, as if part of some greater test I must pass. Some have been the kind one can simply step over with a stride slightly greater in size than the average gait, while others have been the kind that require one to stop and consider the possibilities, the various outcomes and consequences, both positive and negative. And once one does reach a decision, it becomes necessary to run and jump as quickly as possible for fear of leaving one's self too large a window of time to change one's mind, when in reality one's first instinctive decision is almost always the best choice.

The events of the past few weeks played over and over in my mind this morning in between the careful consideration I gave to each puzzle clue. I don't feel it appropriate to share the details of any of them with you here, at least not at this juncture - maybe at a later date. As I sat at the kitchen table listening to the rain, it hit me. I used to despise rainy days, mostly for their hindrance of my partaking in outdoor activities. But now I love them, at least in moderation, and here's why. I've come to believe that rainy days are the big man upstairs' way of reminding us who's in control. Sure, he gives us the ability to make our own choices and think freely for ourselves, but then he throws in a rainy day here and there to say what I interpret to be something along the lines of "Slow down."

Life is short; this much is known. But we all seem to get so caught up in deadlines and tasks and the like, that we have the tendency to lose focus on enjoying life. Rainy days offer the chance to recharge and rethink one's approach. So on days when the sun doesn't shine, grey is a familiar color, and raindrops collide with every surface, don't allow yourself to be annoyed or dismayed. Slow down. Life can wait.