It’s a SOUL TRUTH SATURDAY. I was reminded of The Soul Truth, “Some people walk in the rain; others just get wet” after a few days of downpours lately. This quote occurred to me about 6 months before I’d make the move Down Under from South Florida, USA to Newcastle, Australia. By then I’d programmed Newcastle into my World Clock and Weather app on my iPhone.
For months, I’d check the weather in Newcastle. For months, it showed rain. Ho hum. Weeks before I’m leaving, still rain most days. Hmm. How’s this going to work? I know I was a gal familiar with summer rain storms and Hurricanes. But, those weather patterns had seasons. This rain in Newcastle seemed it had no rhyme or reason. Was this an odd year? Was this the norm? I guess I’d find out.
In the meantime, I needed to prepare. I got warm, water-resistant boots with good walking sole, a collapsible umbrella, and, last minute, purchased a purple-black zebra striped rain jacket that was on sale at Steinmart. “That ‘ill do,” I thought. Just in case. It was SO tacky looking, yet reminded me of something my Nana Lil would wear. Last time I had a jacket like that it was in college with cold, rainy, snowy weather. I had a mindset mantra at Syracuse University back then, “I don’t dress to impress; I dress for function.” So, I thought, I better get me a new mindset mantra!
At the same time, I was sorting out my life’s possessions – like computer files. No cloud storage yet so whatever I needed would go on an external hard drive. Despite those having lots of capacity, I wanted to keep only so much.
I came across a folder of my ‘former life’ as Dr Elli, Life Architect of Atlas Life Design, Inc. A perusal down memory lane reminded me of a ‘Soar thru Stress’ workshop I led for a corporate client in hospitality. I opened that session with a prop, an umbrella with this quote emblazed on it (thanks Sharpie markers). The point was to have perspective when things were stressful – find what’s right about the situation, instead of what’s wrong.
And thus, that was it! That was the literal (+ figurative) mindset I needed to take on this leap of faith.
And let me tell you, days upon days of those first several winter/spring months, not unlike these last few, I repeated those 10 words to myself. I didn’t (and still don’t) have a car so it was just me, my ‘brolly’, my boots, my tacky raincoat and my sturdy shopping trolley – traipsing through puddles to get shit done or go from here to there. The mantra was perfect. It did precisely what it was meant to – it reminded me that I am capable and adaptive – even when things weren’t going in my most preferred way.
Note: keep in mind, I also have naturally curly hair that expands to fill the space of the Universe with frizz - think Monica in Barbados - if it gets wet, so rain is my least preferred weather pattern! #vanity
To this day, this quote serves as a Soul Truth reminding me I can handle the rainy days; that handling the ‘rainy days’ of life is all about mindset.
How ‘bout you? What’s your mindset mantra for handling the rainy days?
Lemme know in the comments!
xo,
Elysa
Epilogue: As it turns out, there are plenty plenty plenty of days in Newcastle without rain! In fact, as I write this, the sky is clearing. I bet there’s a ripper of a rainbow out there now! And, by no means am I ungrateful for the days of steady rain. Many parts of Australia are in SEVERE drought – farms and farmers are in dire straits. Thus, I hope some rain went where it’s desperately needed. And just in case it didn’t, I bought a bale or two. Check out: https://www.buyabale.com.au/
note: these blog posts were originally posted between 2018 - 2020 on a different website of mine.