Residents of Southern California have been forced to reconcile with a strange and unfamiliar weather pattern: rain. Though the plentitude of rain has been a miracle for the ongoing drought, sun-lovers across the Golden State have grown weary of the endless weeks and months of cloudy, foggy, rainy weather. Rainy season is starting earlier and earlier in coastal Southern California which means residents are presented with more and more of a challenge. Coping with a lack of sunshine and typical California weather can be strenuous enough for short stretches. When the May gray turns to June gloom which stretches into July why and even expands into the foggiest August, the hopes for a long brilliant summer are quickly gone. Within just a few short weeks, without an Indian Summer, the rainy season kicks back in again.
Rain can be a real bummer, or it can be a real opportunity to learn how to make the most of life’s challenges. In the 1990’s cult classic “Camp Nowhere” a group of high schoolers high-jack their parents’ summer camp funds to create their own summer camp, on their own terms. Just as the wild adrenaline from unbridled freedom starts to wear off, the kids find themselves bogged down by rain. Everyone is bored, cranky, and complaining, even going so far as to suggest they should just go home. The main character and primary boy in charge, appropriately nicknamed Mud, seeks counsel from the rebellious hippie adult on campus, played by Christopher Lloyd, back who helped them orchestrate the whole gig. After a brief argument, the scene cuts to Lloyd in a Greco-Roman get up shouting into a megaphone. The scene? Mud olympics. Everyone is playing in the rain, in the mud, getting dirty, and having an excellent time. All it took was a perspective shift, some motivation, and a little creativity.
Of course, Mud Olympics is always an option. The movie scene serves a greater metaphor. While some circumstances may seem out of our control, like the weather, how we react to them and what we do with our lives under those circumstances is completely under our control. Learning to lean into unwelcome change is a lesson for living life in sobriety. Only you can give away all the power of your happiness to something outside of you. Only you can make the most of times, even when it’s raining.
Transform your life, inside and out as you find freedom from addiction. At Tree House Recovery in Orange County, California, we’re helping men create the sustainable changes necessary to build a sustainable recovery. Call us today for information: (855) 202-2138
