Rainbows, rainbows, rainbows…

I absolutely love rainbows, there is something about the sweeping colour across a bleak sky that just lifts me up and puts me in a better mood.

Recently I’ve seen so many rainbows and I love this visual reminder of such an important metaphor, because, you can’t have the rainbows without the rain. And yes, I have been complaining a lot about the rain too recently. It is supposed to be Spring time where I am, and whilst it is usually all about sunshine and flowers at this time of year for us, this year…Winter seems to want to hang around a little bit longer. Quite frankly, outstaying its welcome. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love a little bit of winter …snuggling up in front of the fireplace, drinking hot drinks and eating comfort food. But there comes a point towards the end of the short days and long cold nights that I start to get over it. I’m feeling grumpy and fedup, I’ve put on extra weight due to the winter hibernation and I’m really hanging for the sun to come out and just make me toasty warm.

Yet, to no avail this year, as the rain and cloud have continued long into Spring (and, mind you, all through my recent vacation).

And then, out of the blue, I look up and a beautiful bright rainbow is shining through the clouds and my complaining immediately stops.

Of course, this applies to so many other facets of my life. It is easy to get caught up trying to eliminate all the “bad” parts of the things I have/need to do, in the hope of having days jam packed 100% full of joy (Surely this is not too much to ask?). But, the reality is that you can’t experience real joy unless sometimes you experience the sadness. It reminds me of Inside Out, the kids movie where the feelings are all represented by characters in the child’s head. They try to ignore sadness and make it just go away, but it doesn’t work, they ultimately realise they need to let the sadness out to fully experience the other feelings …clever clever

So, thank you rainbows, for shaking me out of my winter blues and reminding me that every cloud has a silver lining or at least, a big shiny rainbow with a pot of gold.