Rain rain, don't go away

This past week in Utah we have been experiencing quite a bit of rain. To me, this has been delightful. I love the freshness, the chill air, the smell, and how it brings me a sense of peace. I wish it rained more frequently for sure!

There is always a feeling of wanting to cozy up with a blanket when it rains, drink hot tea, and read a book. Staying indoors is often the result of rainstorms.

But I've started to notice something about my daughter every time it rains— she says “oooooooooo cold” and runs for cover. It's really cute how she does it. But at the same time, I don't want her to fear getting wet and miss out on all the excitement of playing in the rain.

So I decided that the next few times it rained, we wouldn't run for cover. We would just get wet and keep doing what we were doing. My hope by doing this is that I could help teach her how to be brave and overcome her fears by setting the example.

The first time I got to put this into practice was when we visited the aquarium. Arwen had been begging to go see the sharks and we finally made it happen. We had a perfect day with each other exploring and running around looking at all the sea creatures. When we finished, we went outside to end our time at the playground.

Pretty soon, it started to sprinkle. But I had Arwen stay outside and play as I happily caught up with friends who happened to be there too. Less than 5 minutes later, the heavens opened in a downpour. It became pretty intense, so we all laughed and went back inside. Arwen was a little nervous about getting wet and even tried to take her clothes off. Haha not going to happen.

Her fear of rain subsided just a little bit. She realized she was okay.

The 2nd time we got some rain, I had to do a little more convincing to get her outside. Something that helped was the cute little umbrella my dear friend Louise gifted her while I was recovering from surgery. We walked up and down the street, stomping in puddles, playing with rocks, and laughing. I could see her open up a little bit more to playing in the rain.

The next time we had a rainy day, I decided we would go for a ride on my sister's scooter. We strapped on our bike helmets and cruised around the neighborhood, letting the rain soak us as we rode up and down the streets.

Then something amazing happened— after we parked the scooter and went in the house, I asked Arwen if she wanted to go back outside and play. With her sweet little smile and big blue eyes, she looked up at me and said “Yeah mom!” So we walked back outside, took off our shoes, and continued to play in the rain. We got drenched. It was amazing. We had so much fun. And she wasn't scared anymore. She was free. And I was free.

I'm in awe of how quickly she worked on overcoming her fear of the rain and getting wet. It's interesting that she doesn't like to get wet because she absolutely loves to swim. She excels at swimming actually. I'm just so proud of her.

We all might be a little scared of something. Even legends get scared I'm sure. But when we put ourselves out there, even just a little bit, we empower ourselves with confidence and strength. The more we exercise courage to step out of our comfort zones, the more we teach our brains that we can do hard things. We give our minds experience AND evidence that we are capable of a lot more than we ever thought. And that we can positively make an impact on the lives of others.

Moral of the Story: We will all experience fear or nervousness— whether that is starting a business, giving a talk in church, having a difficult conversation, performing a surgery, creating a newsletter 😉, applying for college, asking for a raise, making a social media post, asking for help— the list can go on. The goal is to have the courage to show up, never give up, and keep smiling, especially in the things that get us out of our comfort zones.

Just like my 3 year old got out of her comfort zone by playing in the rain and getting wet, you too can push yourself to do the thing that you've been putting off because it makes you nervous. Courage my friends! We can do this.

You can do hard things. You make a difference. Cheering you on!

Erica ❤️🌺