It’s Raining, It’s Pouring

When it rains, it pours. Isn’t that how the saying goes?

Metaphorically speaking, when things go bad – they go really bad.

But when did rain become synonymous with calamity? Of course there are the draw backs to rain – slippery roads, difficult commutes, limited outdoor activities. But rain, in moderation, is definitely something to be celebrated. Lately it has been raining hard with thunder and signs of snow here in Buenos Aires. It got me noticing how the rain impacts the city and how the people respond to it. My observations concluded with mixed reviews. Some lavished in it and enjoyed relaxing to the sound of the rain drops, while others would be slipping and sliding in their own gloom, cursing the sky as if there was a rain god above to blame for the unfavorable weather.

If you look at a cultural view of rain, in some places it is celebrated as it brings drinking water, life to the harvest, and fills the rivers and lakes to sustain the land and population. For that same reason, rain is viewed as good luck on wedding day as it is believed to be a sign of prosperity and stability. Likewise, when it rains on New Year’s Eve it signifies the cleansing of all the mistakes, regrets, and blunders of the past 365 days and a clean and fresh start to the New Year.

It’s interesting to notice how changing one’s perspective on a gloomy day can change the outcome. Equally, changing the way you view bad luck as it comes – not letting a bad attitude lead you to further bad fortune can help you to enjoy the day more as well as have a clearer mind to see the positives that are out there and find some resolution to any troubled predicaments you might find yourself in.

Instead of staying inside all day accepting “defeat,” go out and embrace it. Learn to accept things for what they are – as they say here in Argentina “es como es” – it’s what it is. Instead of innately viewing something as negative, change your perspective and see it for what it could possibly become. Go out and dance in the rain. Take a moment to free yourself of your worries and think simply. Then make it better!

Switch the saying around and be thankful for the rain because thinking on the contrary, when it rains it pours with the good as it does with the bad. If you change your perspective, your state of mind – then you can change your world.

Here is an interesting video I found about some people who found it raining, but kept dancing through it all.

Sundays

The weekend has officially arrived. You’ve been waiting all week for it! Friday finally kicks off after you get off work or school and the mentality shift begins.

At last you can put on your dancing shoes and enjoy life as it was meant to be! And isn’t it funny how it takes forever for Friday to arrive…..yet as quickly as you start to enjoy it you find yourself counting down the hours til Monday!?! Before you know it, it’s already Sunday. Sometimes waking up in a haze from the blur that was your Friday and Saturday and dreading the week ahead.

I discussed this with one of my students, who has his own graphic designs company. He told me that Sundays he can’t seem to get any good sleep due to the running thoughts of work and other responsibilities.

Maybe it’s just the way we are used to thinking because of the infamous “Case of the Mondays” mentality that many develop while caught up in the vicious 60 hour a week work cycle. Or maybe it’s just being worn out from the late night partying and galavanting with a care-free mentality, relishing in the weekend freedom!

Technically speaking, Sunday is still the weekend. Yet many have associated it with anxiousness and uneasiness for the coming week instead of soaking in Sunday and enjoying everything about it; after all it is the day of rest.

For me personally, Sunday has sort of become my sanctuary from all the activities, pending responsibilities, and daily stressors that could easily consume my day. Instead, I try to take good care of myself – have a good breakfast, open up the windows and let all the sun come in, go for a walk around the neighborhood. The little things that make the day more cheerful. I encourage you to let the light in on your Sunday. Relax and stretch out your legs. Smile more and go outside and see the faces of people on the street. Do they look happy or are they worrying about the days ahead?

Have some wine, maybe dinner with friends. Go watch the sunset from a nice viewpoint. Whatever it takes to make the end of your weekend actually look forward to the upcoming week. In fact, Sunday has become my favorite day of the week. For me in Buenos Aires, it means waking up to birds chirping, music from the Sunday fair heard on the streets, and waking up after sleeping in to some coffee and biscuits. Just knowing that although responsibilities lie ahead, finding your peace in the day and doing whatever it is that  puts you at ease is what the day is all about.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Slow dance to life’s song

Life is like a roller coaster. We encounter each day with its ups and downs and try to get through it in one piece. Or do we all???

Sometimes we forget how lucky we really are with different things we have going on in our lives. From time to time we have to slow down, step back, and realize how all the little things in life really fit the bigger picture. In the grander scheme of things, we should all learn to accept and appreciate every new experience and try to draw the lessons and positives from it.

This is a poem I read back when I was in college that had an impact on me at that point in my life, as I began to surround myself with positivity and pursue what made me happy.

It’s written by a girl who had a terminally-ill disease in New York. She wrote this from the hospital and I hope you can find the meaning in it for you!

Slow Dance

Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down.
Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won’t last.

Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask, “How are you?”
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?
You’d better slow down
Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won’t last.

Ever told your child,
We’ll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time
To call and say “Hi”?
You’d better slow down.
Don’t dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won’t last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift…. Thrown away.
Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over