On days like today, this rainy, gray, and silent day, I find myself excited for the aftermath. Just as, long ago, farmers prayed for rain to grow harvestable crops, I long for rainy days and the cleansing peace they bring me. 

After rain blesses its fulfilling liquid upon the constantly reaching, changing, and longing beauty of nature, there comes growth. Saplings grow into trees, grass stands proud again, and families of wild beasts are nourished. 

I find myself growing along with the wildlife outside my windows. I feel the same respite; the puddle-forming rain that runs down my windows gives me the clarity to truly see what I need in my life, whether it’s a long, warm bath, a break from my phone, or even just a glass of water.

I don’t fully understand what it is about rainy days that makes me understand myself. Maybe it’s the promise of a nothing-filled day or the assurance that soon there would be sun again. Whatever it is, it makes me long for a rainy day when I am lost or confused.

Rainy days remind me that there is always an opportunity for growth; there is always something that I need that I have not been listening to. Rainy days allow me a full understanding of what I crave most in life. 

Rainy days bring me peace and hope.

They create the perfect day to focus on me and to be truly hopeful for the future. They bring me the strength to evaluate the point I am at in my life and be honest with myself. 

I often find myself too immersed in the daily chaos of balancing my relationships, my schoolwork, and the little, everyday things that I need to do that seem to just become more and more innumerable. Finding peace among all that mess is difficult for me; forcing myself to stay in and focus on myself, even convincing myself to take some time to exercise and better myself, gets pushed to the side and forgotten.

But the drops of water that support our world also bless me with a day where I can stay in and focus on myself. All the other unneeded and nagging thoughts that tell me to finish all the endless tasks I assign to myself get pushed aside this time, and I can focus on taking care of myself. 

The soft rolling thunder and the constant pattering of rain on windows always stay in my mind. The accompanying fluffy socks, warm tea, warm baths, and the sweat of an indoor run I actually enjoy make me yearn for the peace and hopefulness of a rainy day.