Walking in the Rain with my Wife...
Yesterday I walked in the rain with my wife. It wasn’t dancing in the rain, but quite romantic
in its own right.
I was going to take a run and she decided she wanted to join
me, so we left the house when it was merely drizzling. We got to talking, so we decided that instead
of running, we would walk fast so we could converse. I was cool with that. Since the sabbatical I’ve had a diet of
talking to my wife much more than I used to and her perspective and feedback
has become more vital to my navigation of life.
I looked off to my right and I could see the billowing
clouds filling the darkening sky. I
mentioned that we might get a downpour and looked at her eyes to see if she
gave any indication that she wanted to turn around. She looked at me and said, “I’m good if you’re
good.” So we soldiered on into the 15
mile an hour winds and the driving rain.
We talked and laughed as the beads of rain pelted our face. The dirt road started to fill with puddles
and what started as a simple walk was turning into a “Tough Mudder”. Our shoes were caked with filth and our hair
and clothes were drenched like we’d been thrown into the deep end of a
pool. Toward the end of the walk, it
subsided a bit.
When we got home, I stoked our fireplace (Did I mention it
was 59 degrees on August 4th in Michigan?!) and we warmed our
chilled bones and dried our damp bodies.
There was just something so spontaneous and adventurous about the whole
experience that it left me feeling deeply fulfilled and childlike in my
joy.
I wonder how many times we look at our conditions and think,
“Dang, I wish it was better out there” instead of saying, “Let’s just go for it
with vigor and see what happens”. I got
to wondering how often I miss out on something really fun because I’m so set in
my ways, waiting for just the right conditions to align with my unspoken
expectations.
There is so much life in letting go of control and just
walking in the rain.
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