Taste the rainbow

Imagine someone walking in the street with a big, grey cloud hanging over their head. If they are anything like me, they will hate their wet feet in closed shoes, sloshing along the wet path. They will probably be just as grumpy as the cloud makes them feel. Maybe they are having a very bad day, maybe they are very sad, but if we don’t talk to them, we will never know why.

Let’s imagine you carry a big, colourful umbrella with you and you open it for this person… You block out the rain and give them a warm smile. You can tell them a funny joke, you can give them a compliment and their day might just turn out better than it started.

You become the rainbow in someone’s cloudy day. You bring colour and joy and laughter where this person might have felt “It is the end for me”.

When you are having a bad day, it doesn’t mean that your life is bad. Maybe you need to sit back and think, why am I having a bad day? Reflect on what happened. Maybe, your coffee was cold instead of warm and steamy. Maybe you missed breakfast or lunch. Maybe your shoes where wet from walking in the rain. But maybe you just need to take a deep breath or rest for a little bit.

I have mentioned in a meeting this week “I am happy 99% of the time”. This is true, I am happy but the other 1% is caused by different reasons. Maybe I over slept, I am tired, I feel drained or maybe someone else’s negativity rubbed off onto me. Get it off! Or sometimes it is just because I don’t know what to cook for dinner. But I will feel better eventually.

Something I always try to do is cheer people up, make them laugh or make silly jokes or ask silly questions. It can be a little draining too sometimes and I need someone else to share their energy with me. On my rainy day, I need someone to be my rainbow.

Having many rainy days in sunny South Africa, I feel frustrated some days, because it can be a little cold, everything is wet, laundry is piling up and I miss the warm sun on my face. Warmth and sunshine makes me happy. Clear blue skies and being able to see the sun makes me happy, probably the vitamin D, but with the rain, I don’t feel too excited. And it got me thinking, how can I look more positively at these rainy days?

Rain can symbolise many positive things: Cleansing and renewal, Emotional release, Growth and fertility and Rebirth. So maybe the clouds we carry with us, is not as bad as we think. It can be a sign of change happening. It can be a way to cleanse your emotions and start fresh while shedding your burdens. And then you will see the rainbow.

Rainbows also symbolises many things like hope, joy, connection, promise and celebration. And then there is the mythological symbol associated with the Irish folklore of having a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. According to legend, leprechauns hide their pot of gold at the end of the rainbow but because the end of the rainbow is an illusion the gold is always out of reach. Even though we can’t reach the gold we can find gold in other things.

Conversations, friendships and laugher bring us joy and hope, just like the rainbow. And we don’t need gold to buy these things – big bonus.

In short: Bring the happiness you carry with you, have the conversations and make friends along the way. Even when you have a grey cloud hanging over your head or the person you are talking to is carrying the cloud.  Be the rainbow and spread the joy.