Getting Stuck in the Rain

*Listening to new music that sounds like 80’s music. Check out Betty Who, “High Society”.

The other morning I grabbed the hubs and enormo-dog and we drove to Umstead Park in Raleigh. Umstead State Park is simply amazing and reminds me of being in Boone..perhaps on the Parkway or behind my house growing up. You could always find my sisters and I playing in the woods when we lived off Castleford Rd. Looking up and seeing the towering tree’s makes you feel small and humble. Being in nature always puts things in perspective for me.

Lately I have been working on myself. Trying to get better in a number of ways. Maybe better is not the write word, let’s say aware and present. I have been working on my physical health, mental and emotional wellness and outlook on life. Somehow I got caught up in the busy-ness. Through reading more enlightening books, yoga and seeing an amazing acupuncturist with a holistic approach, I feel like I am making progress. Fear and stress is trickling out of my body and I am happy to see it go. I have always been a “worry-wart” (my mother’s term) and it has followed me into adulthood. Worrying about things I have no control over, worrying about what people think, worrying about my future, worrying about not worrying enough! I know I am not the only person out there who does this and it makes me sad to think that the world we live in creates so much anxiety for people. 

Thirty hit and I realized it needed to stop. Turning thirty has been amazing and all of a sudden I am doing more empowering things. Yoga was also the catalyst for change. I started doing yoga seriously about 2 years ago and it planted the seed. For the first time in my life I feel comfortable in my own skin. I am in control of my reactions to the things and people around me. I always have been..it just took some growing up to trust myself. Your attitude affects your reaction to external blows. You have to see it for what it is, let it move through you and acknowledge it and move on. Don’t worry about it. Just be present and the rest will fall into place.

While wrapping up the trail at Umstead the thunder started to roll. Lighting lit up the sky and the clouds opened up. We started to run but I did not care about getting wet. I chose to focus on the moment and how great it was to be alive and to feel the rain on my skin! After jumping into the car (and noticing my husband was not thrilled with the turn of events) I turned to him and said “Sometimes in life, it rains. It rains hard and it is up to us to accept it and smile. We cannot let it ruin our day or our mood.” My intention was to lift his mood but also to secretly remind myself that life (just like nature) is beautiful, the good and the bad.