When I first added a quick run in the morning to my routine, I used to go out with 3 layers, a beanie, and a bandana. Mid-way through the run, I’d have to carry my jacket and the beanie as it’d get far too warm.
I’ve learnt from those experiences. I step out now and embrace the chill for a few minutes knowing that I’ll be feeling warm soon. And if I really wanted to feel warm sooner, I could.
Every morning, this experience reminds me of an idea I call “internal weather.” The external weather may be near freezing – but my internal weather feels different. By the time I run up that second hill, I’m sure I could even get down to my inner layer and be just fine.
An amazing contrast.
Of course, the external weather matters. But it is amazing how much I’m in control of my response to it.
It is a beautiful daily reminder of the insight around being proactive. It is easy to be overly focused on reacting to the external weather. There’s always a problem thrown at us – the economy, that skeptic, that person who doesn’t like us, that result that didn’t go our way, and so on.
But we always have the dials – typically turned with intentional effort – to change our internal weather.
