Progress Report (of sorts...) For #17 - Get caught in the rain...enjoy it!

The weather lately has been especially grey (gray? I can't ever remember...) and it makes me mopey. It reminded me of #17 - Get caught in the rain and instead of getting mad, run around and enjoy it!

However, I've realized two things:

One. I don't like rain. I barely even like being wet. (Swimming not included in this statement.)
Two. It's impossible to plan for this.

Let's address Realization Number One first. Since I don't like rain or being rained on, I tend to be prepared for storms. As in, I don't go out in them. Also, I'm relatively good about grabbing my umbrella (ella, ella) so there's little chance that I'm going to get drenched enough to just say "forget it" and run around, enjoying the fact that my clothes now weigh ten pounds and whatever plans I might have had are now indefinitely postponed while I dry off and find a new outfit.

This leads us to Realization Number Two. I can't plan the weather and that makes me a little crazy. You will never see me more frustrated than when my carefully-laid plans are foiled by something that I can't control and can't yell at.

If you add the two realizations together, you'll get Realization Number Three. The kicker about putting this task on my list is that it has less to do with the action and much more to do with my mindset when I finally get around to checking it off the list. In order for me to be able to honestly cross this one off, I will have to have been truly caught in the rain, which means that I will not have planned for rain, will have left my umbrella (ella, ella) in an inconvenient place, and that something has gone Wrong with my day. Which means I'll be upset. Plus I keep imagining myself locking my keys in my car. Great.

So, after all of that stress and frustration of being stuck in the rain and having to change plans and find a locksmith, I will have to stop what I'm doing, look around, and ENJOY it. I'll have to find the beauty around me and realize that this is not all bad, it's not going to ruin me, I will keep going.

If I can find that amid the rain, the inevitable tears and the creepy locksmith, I will know that I've got the right outlook on life. Until then, I'll keep the umbrella (ella, ella) where I can find it.