The Weather is Like a Box of Chocolates

Right now in Vermont, one day it’s dry-aired perfection with puffy clouds one day; thundery and sticky humid the next. And recently we had some cold that threatened our young garden. It seems I need an attitude adjustment every day.

Remember when Forrest Gump said, “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get“? I feel that way about the weather…you never know what you ‘re going to get and that’s exciting. Or is it?

What’s your relationship to the weather? And how does it reflect on your response to change? If you are On Purpose, does this change your attitude? I’ll be musing about these questions this season.

And, I invite you to take the Weather Attitude Test at the end of this post.

What’s Your Attitude Barometer?

I believe that your attitude barometer – how well you accept not knowing what’s in store each day when you open your eyes to the horizon – may be how you weather the storms. And whether you claim the time to celebrate the good weather in your life. Even if you turn on the weather station to be more prepared, your response to the rain, the snow, the sun, the wind, the heat, the cold…. is your true internal weather pattern.

I’ve weathered storms in the past few years – a divorce, an income adjustment, moving twice. The second time, the move took me 3000 miles away from California, a place I had called home for 24 years, to Vermont. This meant that I had to face a whole new weather pattern. I had to rebuild my business and social connections in a different climate, literally and figuratively. These storms were not sudden tsunamis or tornadoes. They were a result of conscious choices. This didn’t mean that I sailed through my transition calmly or that it was easy.

Do you have the Gear and the Map to navigate your internal weather patterns? To adjust your attitude consciously?

I had the gear and the map, though, to prepare me to navigate the changes. These are contained in my fingerprints which reveal my Life Purpose and what is getting in the way of living it every day.

Do you have your gear and your map with you? Your fingerprints contain your Soul Map ~ what you need to do and be to go from the unconscious to the conscious, to live a life of meaning and joy. Simply to live a purposeful life regardless of the weather.

Your fingerprints are really like weather patterns – describable yet at times unpredictable, knowable and yet intangible, filled with promise but no guarantees. They provide the map to help you navigate the winds of change as you seek to become more authentically YOU.

I moved back to Vermont partly because of the extremes in weather. I agree with my friend Anne who says, “I like weather that talks back!” I had not lived in a cold winter clime for 24 years. How was I going to handle the winters and mud season and stick season? Barbara, another friend of mine, said, “Janet, no matter what the weather conditions, go outside everyday – walking, skiing, snowshoeing, sloshing in the rain”… This was really good advice. I love what every day brings – rain or shine.  O.K., I must confess, I do grump a little when it is above 85 degrees and humid or rainy and cold for more than 2 days in a row!

When the weather is so unpredictable, you have to have the right attitude. What helps me? Continually tuning into my reason for being and what’s getting in the way of living it full on, as encoded in my fingerprints. How about you?

I remember these past few months as exciting going from a foot of snow to 80 degrees, from muddy roads to bursting buds. From torrential rain to hot hot and dry.  While I heard others remember it as cold and snowy and rainy…not enough sun and and and. Harrumph! So what’s your weather attitude?

Test your Weather Attitude:

By now you have figured out that I believe that how you handle the weather is how you feel about your life and the positive or negative rhythms of your daily existence. I welcome your comments – this might be a big leap. Fun to ponder on those rainy days!

• What is your ideal weather? (Describe it.)

• When it is this way, do you celebrate it with adventures, fun? Do you take the time to be in it?

• When it goes belly up for days at a time, how do you feel? Does your attitude about your life shift – less motivated, grumpier…. or have you become more accepting of it?

• What do you say when the weather is not ideal? Pick a time when it is colder or rainier than you like, or hotter and more humid…..notice what you say to yourself and others.

• Are you fearful during certain weather patterns – approaching storms, torrential rain, high winds? Or are you prepared with the gear to keep you safe?

This is an exercise noticing your relationship to the weather and therefore your life. Just pondering these questions can help you observe your own “weather patterns”. And you’ll begin to notice how others around your respond to the ups and downs of the day. Now get your umbrella out and go dance’n in the rain.

And if you’re having a bad day, go out and buy a box of chocolates!

If you want to update your internal weather barometer, contact me to set up a Life Purpose Mapping Session and to review your Weather Attitude test results!