And Then There Was Light (or Sun...)

It's been a pretty dreary past 10 days or so. San Jose was having what's called a temporál - a stretch of gray, cool, rainy days, from start to finish.  Typically, even during the rainy season, the mornings start out sunny. Sometimes the sun only lasts for an hour or so; other mornings it lasts until 2 o'clock. Then the downpour begins.  But even when there are torrential rains in the afternoon, you almost always can count on some sun in the mornings.

Not so during a temporál. These are very common during the month of November, which is a transition month for Costa Rica, where the rains start to diminish and the dry season is ushered in.  But it's not the dry season yet, and I suppose Mother Nature wanted to give us one more dose of rain and cool temperatures before summer arrives.

For those of you who know me well, you know I hate the rain. Well, mostly I hate the never-ceasing Pacific Northwest rain (although it does have its benefits, like making everything a lush, deep green). But even here in warm Costa Rica, 10 days of gray skies and drizzly mornings, afternoons, and evenings, can get me down. The grayness in particular has all sorts of effects on me: low energy level, lack of motivation, moodiness, sadness...

I endure it because I have to. But I don't just endure; I honestly try to make the best of it and do everything I can to fight off all the negative side effects.

I don't just wallow (although I may indulge in a few longer naps).

And I don't just sit around complaining (okay, I do complain some).

I discipline myself to carry on and take the rainy season (whether it's 10 days or 10 months) for what it's worth: a season. A season to be more contemplative, to be more still, to enjoy candlelight and hot tea.  And yes, for me, it's at times a season simply to endure. But through this endurance I am somehow strengthened. Because if I allow myself to be open to it, through enduring and disciplining myself, I learn and grow.

And the best part about enduring, persevering, or being 'disciplined' - whether it's something more 'petty' like the weather or something more profound like a life circumstance - is that when the sun finally comes out, it is truly glorious.

And this morning, that is exactly what happened: blue, sunny skies abounded, after over a week of rain.

You appreciate the light in a whole new way.

But if it weren't for the gray season you had just endured, one, you wouldn't have learned invaluable lessons, and two, the light, or the new season, wouldn't be so magnificent.