Henry Longfellow Quote on Rain and What The Best Thing To Do When It’s Raining Is…

“For after all, the best thing one can do when it is raining, is to let it rain.”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Beyond the Quote (259/365)

You can curse the clouds. Yell at the wind. Blame the rain for ruining your day. You can close your blinds and hide under your blankets. You can turn the TV up real loud so you don’t hear the thunder. You can even browse some “sunny 70” exotic destination locations on IG. But, whether you confront the rain with anger and hostility or dig your head into the pit of your couch and pretend like it doesn’t exist, one thing is for sure—it’s going to keep on raining.

So, what to do about it? Well, let’s start with this: since you can’t stop the rain—why try? Why fluster? Why work yourself up over it? Why stress? What’s the point? Is there any higher purpose that trying to “stop” the rain might serve? I can’t think of one. So, rather than try to stop or curse the rain, why not find ways to embrace the rain? Rather than try to hide from it, why not turn towards it and marvel at it for the opportunities that it brings?

…Opportunities? Yes. Rain is the foundational element for life on earth. But, you already knew that. Did you know that it’s a foundational element for life inside you, too? Of course it is. You can’t just have sunshine, dirt, and seeds. Without rain (water) life gets dried up. And for you, without the metaphorical rain—the sadness/ the upset/ the down times—your life gets dried up, too. But, how might someone’s life get “dried up” from too much sunshine? …Or, in metaphorical terms, happiness/ upbeat/ good vibes? Let’s take a closer look.

Think about some of the times when you’ve been happy, and everyone around you was happy, and the vibes were all good and happy, too. Really envision how that type of situation feels and where your head is at during times like that. My guess is that when it’s all good—it’s all good! You’re not thinking about what needs to be improved or changed or who you are as a person or what your purpose is or how you fit in to the world. Why would you? It’s all good! I’m happy, you’re happy, we’re all happy—why try to change anything?!

Sadness, however, puts you into a completely different state of mind. It’s precisely when something is wrong, when something undesirable happens, or when your mood is low that you question your identity, your role in the world, your current state, your mindset, your habits, your path, etc. It’s the rain that allows the plant to sink its roots. And it’s the rain that allows us, as humans, to sink our roots deeper into who we are.

Without the rain—without the sadness—we would never need to challenge ourselves to better anything. Not ourselves, not others, not our environment—not anything! Because everything is all good! Why try and fix something that isn’t broken? It’s only when things aren’t good that we start thinking more critically about how to fix things—how often do you think about going to the car mechanic? Only when something is wrong? Thought so.

But, if we curse the sadness or hide from the pain, then we miss the point. We miss the opportunity of self-discovery. Because that’s really what comes with the rain—a chance to better meet yourself. A chance to question yourself and your life and a chance to deepen your roots. When else would there be a better time to meet… you? The real you? Think about who knows the REAL you now. Is it the people who you’re always happy go lucky around? Or is it the people who have seen you sad/ hurt/ in pain? I think the latter.

This is what I mean when I say your life dries up without the rain. Without it, how to soften our soil? How to deepen our roots? How to cool off from the heat of the sun? If we force feed our lives nothing but sunshine, sunshine, sunshine—we will surely dry up with a plastered smile across our face. And we all know people who have that type of smile across their face. What some of them might be lacking is rain—depth.

Only those who have felt the rain—really felt the rain—have really met themselves. And those people are evidenced all across the history of humanity. Show me someone great and I will show you someone who has felt the rain. Show me someone superficial and I will show you someone who avoids the rain and only ever gets wet. So, the next time rain is on the forecast (or you feel it coming)—don’t freak out, don’t hide, and don’t curse. Just… let it rain.

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