By Harry King
It’s best not let the weather affect your mood too much in Ireland. It’s only natural to be feeling a little blue with all the storms at the minute. What’s worse, you think it’s going to be a beautiful day and five minutes later there’s thunder and you’re cursing the skies for telling you lies. Here are a few recommendations to try and find some energy despite the weather.
Listen to RTE lyric FM in the morning; Whilst this method may be somewhat old fashioned, Marty in the morning is bound to put a smile on your face. His upbeat, positive affirmations are bound to make you laugh. He also plays a great selection of music, from Beethoven Symphonies to soul classics to get you moving through your morning routine. He usually reads a joke or two too.
Use the weather as an excuse to do activities indoors. Use it as a way to stay inside and catch up on some coursework. On the other hand, you could head go the cinema or bowling. There’s no reason a rainy day can’t be as productive as any other. If you focus on the things you can do, you can get loads one.
Music, Music and Music. One of God’s many great gifts to humankind. I would highly recommend listening to as music as possible all the time, but especially on a bad day. There are countless uplifting classics to get you through the day from every genre. If you want to directly sing about the weather try ‘Pocket full of Rainbows’ by Elvis, ‘Blowing in the wind’ by Bob Dylan, or the old reliable ‘Here comes the sun’ by the Beatles.
Read a book. The weather may present an opportunity to submerge yourself in the literary world. A lot of books take a little time to get into. Set aside some time to read and it can be a very rewarding and relaxing experience. I would recommend Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens or Michelle Obama’s autobiography for some non-fiction. Or Terry Hayes’ I am Pilgrim and of course, there’s never a bad time to return to Harry Potter with regard to fiction options.
Listen to podcasts. The quality and range of different podcasts is ever improving and evolving. Personally, I think the New York Times have a couple of great quality podcasts. “The Daily” is a news podcast that has a look at some of the breaking stories usually described by some of their investigative journalists. If the news is getting you down, check out their “Modern Love” podcast, which is a collection of essays and stories about love that people send in. It’s usually read by an actor and it is sure to help regain your faith in the world.
Whilst all of these ideas are very simple, the essence is, instead of letting the weather get you down, there are so many enjoyable activities you can do that will make you feel better if you choose to give them your attention. There’s also nothing wrong with being bored. To quote the American poet Henry Wadswort Longsworth, “The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain”.
