Would you like to be a weather goddess?

I might just have a superpower…

My husband has noticed a bit of a trend in our life together – which is that I seem to have some kind of influence over the weather where we live!!

Unlikely, I know, but please hear me out – I have evidence…!

The most recent example was when a general election was called in the UK a few weeks ago. I was SO frustrated – because my husband works as a policy analyst, so his job was inevitably going to be super busy during an election campaign. Previously, it had been assumed that this election was most likely to happen in the autumn, but now here it was tying my husband to his desk during my favourite month of the year. June tends to be a rather lovely time of year in Scotland, with spring’s new growth burgeoning into the extravagant opulence of summertime!

This situation had particular potency for me because my father was a member of parliament for nearly two decades, starting when I was six, and then I worked in the UK civil service after leaving university. All of which meant that UK politics and general elections have had a big impact on my life up to this point.

And now here I was again – no early summer holiday as I had hoped for.

I was fuming! And I said categorically, “I don’t want it to be nice weather this June. It’ll be so depressing because we’ll be stuck inside all the time!”

And guess what? We’ve literally hardly seen the sun since…! Low cloud, drizzle, full-on rain, blustery wind, and unseasonably cold temperatures – we’ve had the lot. Not really our usual June Scottish fayre – although we do tend to be prepared for anything here. As the saying goes: “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing.”

Even so, while much of the country got beautiful sunny weather yesterday, we only finally got some tentative rays of sunshine in the late afternoon. And we’re back to low cloud this morning as I type.

What would it be like to be a weather goddess?

Now, I’m not REALLY saying I can influence the weather, but there have certainly been quite some coincidences over the years.

And all of this got me thinking…Wouldn’t it be incredible if we could control the weather? And I’m not talking actual rain-wind-sun-style weather, but rather how we experience life day to day?

We’d wake up thinking, I want to have a [happy / peaceful / exciting / insert other adjective here] day today – and hey presto, that experience would effortlessly materialise for us!

If we felt like the warm rays of love and happiness in our hearts, they would naturally emerge. And if we wanted a bit of a dramatic storm to express and wash away some pent-up emotions, roll on the thunder and lightning!

But of course, this is just the stuff of fairytales, right?

Some stuff is out of our hands…

Well, on one level, yes it is.

There’s a whole bunch of stuff we can’t control.

Events we didn’t want. Events that we didn’t see coming. Losing a loved one. Our partner ending the relationship we were fully invested in. Someone causing us deep hurt. Being made redundant. I could go on, but you get the picture…

Fundamentally, we can’t control what other people do. We can try – and we often do – and we might have some influence on some people some of the time. But at the end of the day, other people will do what they choose to do.

And sometimes what they choose to do hurts us deeply.

…but there ARE things we can influence!

The thing is, if we get all tied up with what happens to us in life and what other people choose to do, it’s a cycle that’s very hard to escape. Now, don’t get me wrong – things happen which absolutely aren’t right, and people do very bad and hurtful things. It’s undeniable, the evidence is sadly all around us.

However, where we have choice – and power! – is in how we respond to what happens.

I remember when my counsellor first gently introduced me to this concept and I was SO annoyed and frustrated at her. But this bad stuff has happened to me. These people have hurt me. Why should I have to respond well in order to feel better? That doesn’t seem fair or just! Surely those other people should have to sort out their own mess?

But the sad truth is that they aren’t going to sort out the mess they made. Unfair though it seems, only we have the ability to get out of the life storms we find ourselves in, through no fault of our own.

My Christian faith has given me a lot of comfort and wisdom on my journey out of my various life storms. Stories of Jesus healing people with longstanding ill health. The recognition of human wrongdoing. Radical concepts around forgiveness (I’m still working on this one…)

I also draw insight from the Buddhist concept of acceptance of the present moment. Rejecting or fighting against what is happening can cause us a great deal of stress and pain.

So, where does this leave us?

You can become a weather goddess!

When I was a child dealing with emotional abuse from my father, I didn’t really have a choice in how to respond. I had been wired to be wary, and my survival instincts kicked in to do what they do best.

But as I grew up, I started to see that I had choices. I chose to stand up to my father on certain occasions, even though it was incredibly difficult.

I chose to seek healing when I started to develop troublesome mental health conditions. I chose to hope, even when things looked incredibly bleak.

It was anything but easy, and there were lots of diversions and complications along the way. But I made it to the other side of my storm – and you can too!

It all starts with recognising that we have the power to choose. And believe it or not, attaining the lofty title of Weather Goddess may not be as distant as we imagine…

Do you want to find out more about my model for Singing After The Storm? I’ve created a free guide for you which maps out the stages of the journey, and describes how you can cultivate your calm, confidence and calling in the wake of the storm. You can sign up here!