I Never Complain About the Weather
Every time it rains, someone starts complaining.
It is too wet and damp, they say, I wish it were warmer. Then, when the sun peers out, they complain again. It is too hot and dry, they say, I wish it were colder. But when the winter comes with its ice and snow, they sigh again. It is too slippery, too freezing, too unpleasant.
And I stand there, happy in the rain and sun and snow, and wonder why anyone would complain about such trivial matters.
This article is heavily inspired by the brilliant ideas of author Stephen Covey.
You cannot control the weather.
Like most things in life, the weather is beyond your control.
Therefore, as Stephen Covey repeatedly insists in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, it is entirely pointless to complain about it. Doing so only fosters a reactive mindset, where you let your life fall at the mercy of your circumstances. You choose to become victim to something that is entirely outside of your control, and you allow this negative aspect of your day to shape the rest of it.
Complaining gets you nowhere.
The weather will remain the same regardless of your discomfort and criticisms. And if you choose to be reactive, you will be letting the life you lead be ruined by external forces. Rather than making your enjoyment and fulfillment in life a product of your own (controllable) choices, you will be basing your mood and everyday success on something so trivial as clouds and temperature.
In the end, the only thing you really get out of complaining is a sour mood.
You can control your approach to the weather.
The second, and much better, reaction is to be proactive about it.
Rather than becoming a victim of your circumstances, you will be in control of how your day unfurls. Your life will be good not because it is constantly pleasant outside, but because you decide to make it so. You will be able to be happy and achieve your goals in any weather, because things that are external and beyond your control cannot — and will not — make or break your day.
At its core, proactivity is about adapting to circumstance and doing what you can do about your current situation to make it more ideal.
Your plan to take a walk cannot be thwarted by the rain, because you can just put on your raincoat; and the darkness outside cannot ruin your plans to study, because you can switch on the lights and take a cold shower. You cannot — and will not — be at the mercy of the inconsequential things going on around you. You will be able to shape your day as you see fit.
Importantly, though, this approach is not about pretending to be emotionally unaffected by uncomfortable circumstances.
I too dislike certain types of weather (for instance, I generally prefer chill weather over sunny skies). But the thing is, I never complain about them. Rain and sun and humidity are inevitable, and so I do not want to live a life where my mood and everyday accomplishments are controlled by things I cannot control.
Therefore, I adapt to my circumstances, and I am unfazed by the weather.
Because the weather does not really matter: it cannot ruin my day.
