I got caught in the rain walking the dog the other day. Only a tiny little bit of drizzle on a warm enough day and it reminded me of a time when we were living in China. We used to ride these little scooters around from work to home and home to work. They were our little piece of freedom and independence there.
There was this one time quite near the end of us being there, and it was hot and humid in the summer, and there was this massive thunderstorm. It was literally hammering it down the rain, and I needed to ride the scooter home from work so I got out this plasticky poncho thing and started putting jt on, and I was just like, “What am I doing?”
Like, those things are so sweaty and, like, sticky – generally unsensory friendly. And I just made the decision in that moment to stop myself, thought f*ck it and put it back under my seat.
I rode home in the rain, on an open scooter and was only wearing, like a little summer dress. Rode home through that pouring down rain, and I’ll never forget that experience. The acceptance of it, and it being just what I needed at the time.
Remembering that got me to thinking about radical acceptance. And you know, sometimes when we’re trying to change things, or trying to, like, get things to happen in the way we think they should happen, or not even what we think, but what everybody else thinks should happen. It’s like trying to get on that stuffy, sticky poncho that is the most uncomfortable thing ever. Just uncomfortable to wear. Sticky, it’s hot, it’s just all of the things. And actually just taking it off, allowing yourself to get wet, allows you to be in that present moment and just accept what’s happening and be at one with what’s going on in a very natural, deep way. And honestly, riding that scooter home in the rain is such a powerful memory of mine. Not fighting it, going with it, and enjoying it for what it is. It’s freeing 
–
Image Credit: Max Bender @ Unsplash
Image Description: Blue, purple, pink and golden lights seen through glass spotted with rain drops.
