June 11, 2016

Bitching about the weather: My complaint.

Finland has just experienced the warmest May in 55 years. Then, "out of nowhere", comes a couple of days of rain, the temperature drops down to colder than record warm - and what happens? People immediately start to complain. To point out how terrible the Finnish summer can be. Makes me thunderstruck. So thunderstruck, that in an effort of trying to understand this behaviour, I had to google why people complain.
Here's a couple of quotes I found:

 Why do people complain?
"First of all, most people don't realize how often they complain because it has become a habit and, like all habits, it tends to be so familiar that it becomes invisible. Secondly, most people feel that it's a good conversation starter because it's easier to find common ground by complaining."

Why do people complain about the weather?
"I think what you have to realize is that talking about the weather isn't really about the weather, it's about talking."

I think so too. Because what can one possibly gain from complaining about the weather? Does one think it will make the weather change? Will the complaining make one's day nicer? (No.) Or is it simply because one has nothing else to say? Seems so, as everyone knows the weather is not up to us humans to regulate. And the only thing one does by complaining is deciding not to enjoy what is.
And why do we feel the need to unite through negativity? Why is it so difficult to focus on and talk about the good things? On all that a cold, rainy, windy summer day enables us to do? I made a list, if you yourself can't find anything good about these kinds of days:

1. Sleep in longer (with a good conscience)
2. Stay in bed all day
3. Read a book (all day)
4. Make hot chocolate
5. Bake
6. Wear that perfect Iceland outfit, starring a warm, winter sweater with shorts and rubber boots
7. Take a long, romantic walk in the rain while waiting for the sauna to warm up
8. Go to the movies in the middle of the day
9. Play board games
10. Clean out your wardrobe
11. Go shopping
12. Write down your thoughts
13. Do something creative
14. Build a fortress
15. I could go on forever

Nature needs balance. And balance for nature means rain mixed with sun. Balance for nature means different temperatures. What nature is, is a variety of different weather. So seriously. Try to fill your life with other things than complaining about the weather. After all, we are so lucky as to live in a society where we have this thing called clothes. Clothes mean we can adapt to different weather - easily. So if you're cold - get dressed. A perfect summer is completely up to you. To what you decide to make of it. What options you see and find. Rain or shine. Just as life itself. And if that tan is everything, then Finland is the wrong country to be in. And there is always the option of moving to a warmer climate. A climate where one thinks one will have no reason to complain. But one thing I am sure of, and that is that if we were to have a two-month-long hot spell - no rain, no clouds, nature drying out and dying - one would find this a reason to complain. So stop complaining, and try to enjoy the different variety of life the change of weather is offering you.


Love,

Carolina


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