Singing in the Rain

Decades ago I lived in Manhattan. One miserable rainy morning I was hurrying to work.  It was rush hour. People sloshed through puddles, muttering under their breath, clutching black umbrellas shoved into the rain, like shields in battle.  As I weaved through the somber crowd, I noticed an outdoor fruit stand across the street. Everything was getting soaked, especially the fresh-cut flowers standing in white plastic buckets. 

I stopped in my tracks. Because I could swear those flowers were laughing. 

The harried New Yorkers raced by unaware. But the flowers in these buckets looked like they were giggling; heads tossed back, mouths wide open, delighting in the downpour.  There were irises, tulips, African daisies and roses, all smiling and shimmering in the morning rain. As the throngs of cheerless New Yorkers tromped by, I stared at those flowers because I realized they knew a great truth. Standing in the pouring rain, in their cheap plastic buckets, they were reveling in every glistening drop.  Unlike the frenetic humans too busy to notice, these flowers understood the secret to being happy:

Appreciate everything. Even the downpour.

That image has stayed with me for more than a quarter century because those flowers showed me, in the simplest way, what gratitude is really about. The willingness to praise.

I know being grateful often isn’t easy, especially when you bounce checks, or wake up with a fever, or say good-bye to a dear friend, or lose your job. 

But I also know that practicing gratitude and appreciation and praise is the fundamental difference between a truly happy life and a miserable one, no matter what your circumstances. 

So ponder that the next time you get stuck in a downpour. Who knows? You might find yourself singin’ in the rain…