L et’s face it, the quality of our life experience is greatly affected by our moods. Even when we seem to be succeeding in life outwardly (in our work, relationships, health), we can experience a kind of inner failure and find ourselves feeling down. We may just wake up on the wrong side of the bed or dwell on disturbing thoughts about past or possible future failures.
At these times remember that our moods come and go and usually have little significance. True, we can feed them with additional worry, frustration, sadness, or some other emotion and cause them to grow in their intensity until they really do seem like a big deal. On the other hand, if we just let the mood pass we will find that those gloomy thoughts will give way to the more desirable ones that are right behind them.
An effective way to think about this is to view our thoughts and moods as inner storms. When a rainstorm blows in, we can get upset, shake our fist, and yell at it. Or we can just watch it run its course with mild interest and with full awareness that the sun will soon come out again. The same goes for our inner storms. A poetic image of this view follows.
Inner Storm
A distant rumble, a flash of light, a mental storm portends.
A gust of wind, a hail that bites, when will it ever end?
I brace myself and tighten my hold upon a hopeful view.
But those thoughts bring forth a stormy night of mental servitude.
I arch my back and tense my fists of thoughtful discipline.
And all the while the storm uproots the peace that holds me in.
I do respect the outer storms and let them run their course.
So why allow the inner storms to cause me such remorse?
It’s a fight I cannot win.
How can I stop the night?
But simply let it blow on through and I regain my inner sight.
—Charles C. Manz
If we see moods and negative thoughts as simply symptomatic of inner weather—mere storm fronts that will soon run their course on their own if we don’t feed them—then we are better able to keep things in perspective. The challenge is to not attach too much importance to a temporary mood. By allowing these mental storms to blow on through, we allow our dark inner clouds to give way to inner light once again and the inner and outer success it can bring.
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