The Weather is Like a Box of Chocolates
Remember when Forrest Gump said, "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get"? I feel that way about the weather…you never know what you are going to get and that’s exciting. Or is it? What’s your relationship to the weather? I invite you to take the Weather Attitude Test at the end of this post.

Your attitude barometer and how you accept not knowing what’s in store that day when you open your eyes to the horizon may be how you weather the storms and claim the time to celebrate the good weather in your life. Even if you turn on the weather station to be more prepared, your response to the rain, the snow, the sun, the wind, the heat, the cold…. is your true weather pattern.

I’ve weathered some storms in the past 3 years – a divorce, an income adjustment, moving twice. The second time, the move took me 3000 miles away from a place I had called home for 20 years. This meant that I had to face a whole new weather pattern - that was having to rebuild my business in a different climate, literally and figuratively. These storms were not sudden tsunamis or tornadoes. They were a result of conscious choices. This didn’t mean that I sailed through my transition calmly and that it was easy. I had the gear and the map, though, to prepare me to navigate the winds of change.

That gear and that map are in my fingerprints ~ my Soul Map ~ what I need to do and be to go from the unconscious to the conscious, to live a life of meaning and joy. Simply to live a purposeful life regardless of the weather.

Fingerprints are like weather patterns – describable yet at times unpredictable, knowable and yet intangible, filled with promise but not guarantees. They are a map to help you navigate the winds of change to become more authentically YOU. And our fingerprints are a reflection of natural phenomena – we are part of a grander weather pattern (See the piece on Fingerprints, Your Cosmic Signature.)

I moved back to Vermont partly because of the extremes in weather. I agree with my friend Anne who says, "I like weather that talks back!" I had not lived in a cold winter clime for 20 years. How was I going to handle the winters? Barbara, another friend of mine, said, "Janet, no matter what the winter conditions bring, go out side everyday – walking, skiing, snowshoeing, shoveling, visiting"… This was really good advice. I love what every day brings – rain or shine. No, I must confess, I do grump a little when it is above 85 degrees and humid! I have come to realize that what people say about the weather reflects how they feel about their life. I remember this April as exciting going from a foot of snow to 80 degrees, from muddy roads to bursting buds. While I heard others remember it as cold and snowy and rainy impatient for the few days of warm late Spring/Summer weather.

Test your Weather Attitude:
I believe that how you handle the weather is how you feel about your life and the positive or negative rhythms of your daily existence. I welcome your comments – this might be a big leap!

• What is your ideal weather? (Describe it.)

• When it is this way, do you celebrate it with adventures, fun? Do you take the time to be in it?

• When it goes belly up for days at a time, how do you feel? Does your attitude about your life shift – less motivated, grumpier….or have you become more accepting of it?

• What do you say when the weather is not ideal? Pick a time when it is colder or rainier than you like, or hotter and more humid…..notice what you say to yourself and others.

• Are you fearful during certain weather patterns – approaching storms, torrential rain, high winds?


This is an exercise noticing your relationship to the weather and therefore your life. Just pondering these questions can help you observe your own weather patterns. So get your umbrella out and go sing’n in the rain.