Rain Training

It is oddly rainy this morning.  I say odd because we're in the dry season when it so rarely rains and odd because the forecast didn't call for rain.

I went out this morning for my morning run at the beach.  It felt misty, but not rainy, almost dewy.  Soon, however, the mist turned to outright rain.

There weren't many people out, just me and a few other stalwart souls who didn't have sense to come in out of the rain.

When you're a stalwart soul, you get some rewards.  I love the feeling of being outside when very few others are.  I love rain on my face, especially here, when the rain is not often so refreshing.  We usually get tropical downpours, which are steamy and pounding and kind of scary.  This rain was the kind of rain I could run through and not get soaked thoroughly in a matter of minutes.  I could enjoy the gentle patter of rain on the leaves and rain in my hair.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I'll admit that I did cut my run short.  I've messed up my leg more than once by running in soaked shoes.  And I always worry that a gentle rain will soon turn harsh.

My morning run made me think of similar situations.  Of course, I first thought of poetry, and other art forms which aren't as popular.  But those of us who write poems get a certain refreshing reward.

I also thought of laid off workers who are out there in a place that few of us would willingly go.  I wonder what kinds of things they're learning that few of us will ever know.

Maybe I have that kind of situation on the brain because I'm listening to people talk about The Hunger Games.  I have dystopias of all kinds on the brain. 

Yesterday I went to lunch with some co-workers.  We're all a bit fretful about the future of higher education and whether or not we'll have jobs in the coming years.  I'm trying to shift from crisis thinking to seeing opportunities that I wasn't able to see before.

What are those opportunities?  I don't know yet.  But I'm trying to train myself to be alert.  I'm trying not to give in to despair and hopelessness.

Running in the rain helps me practice optimism and see the advantages to a setting that others would see as grim.  It's training in more ways than one!

And no umbrella necessary!