Once upon a time, a traveler asked a shepherd “what kind of weather are we going to have today?” The traveler wanted to know what to expect; who wants foul weather to derail their travels, right?
The shepherd muttered: “the kind of weather I like.” Confused, the traveler responded: “How do you know it will be the weather you like?” Here, the shepherd taught the traveler an unexpected lesson. “Having found out, sir, I cannot always get what I like, I have learned always to like what I get. So I am quite sure we will have the kind of weather I like.”
The shepherd spends every day outside at the complete mercy of the elements. And yet the shepherd goes about every day the same, rain or shine. You can too. And you should.
How do you feel when you open the front door and feel raindrops as a cold wind pierces your jacket? Maybe you think “Great, now I have to layer up, and I’m going to look like crap for my meeting.” Or perhaps you had planned a nice morning run but couldn’t bear the thought of running in the rain. You tell yourself “I’m gonna be soaked when I get back!”
Those are normal reactions. We prime ourselves to expect things of the world, and when external reality deviates from those expectations, we seethe. We expect the world to march to the beat of our drum.
But what if a normal reaction in this circumstance isn’t the healthiest one? What if your brain has led you astray, falsely making you believe a few raindrops will soak your day in misery and discontent?
What if you could react like the shepherd? What if you could accept what the world throws your way rather than speak your expectations into existence?
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