As the bright days of summer fall behind us, the shorter hours of sunlight, and the rainy weather can leave us wondering what to do with our time. Many look at rainy days as ruined plans, or even an excuse to take off entirely- but a little rain shouldn’t dampen your day.
While it may be difficult to enjoy a day at the beach when it’s raining, there are plenty of activities that you can do in place of these “summer” activities. Going out for a walk in the rain is always a relaxing experience, and it could help take your mind off of the stresses of college life.
In addition, a rainy day may remind you of all the fun things that you could do inside. Rainy days could bring a family together for a game night, which is something we can often forget to do. Or, it could allow you to spend some time reading a book you may have put down a while ago- which could be more rewarding than any afternoon at the beach.
Of course, there’s always the classic pastime of watching the rain from your window, but what about going outside? Actually, running or exercising in the early morning is the best time to be active. For everyone with allergies during these allergy-filled months, the damp weather keeps those allergens out of the air, and can actually help your breathing- so running in the rain is both fun and healthy for you.
But, there’s always staying in for the evening. A rainy day often makes us thoughtful and introspective, and those relaxing moments of watching a movie, talking to a friend, or enjoying the peace and quiet can be important to relaxing during a tough semester.
While it’s important to not let a day go by simply because it’s raining, it’s also equally valuable to relax when the time calls for it. It’s easy to forget how quickly the day is going by when we are running from place to place, doused in plans, and preoccupied with all of our responsibilities, and a rainy day may put a halt in that endless race we all find ourselves on from time to time.
So, instead of looking as ruined plans as a downer to your day, look at it as an opportunity to put the brakes on the important moments that could go whizzing by us. You could find comfort in watching the rain, or going out for a run during the day, but most of all, it’s important to not take a rainy day for a somber sky or a monotonous destroyer of plans, but rather as something to stop us in our tracks to remember what’s truly important. So, the next rainy day that you wake up to, don’t scowl when you open the window, but smile for all the new opportunities that it gives you.