Let it Rain

If you attend college, you're likely not a fan of rain. Sure, it looks nice when the drops make patterns in puddles on the street and something soothes me about the sound of the steady drumming on the rooftops. However, it does not look so nice when the water starts creeping up my pant legs and nothing soothes me about the sound of wet, squeaking shoes moving through the hallway.

Fortunately, in our fantastic modern world exist these wonderful things called umbrellas. Dog may be man's best friend, but I truly believe an umbrella is a college student's best friend. A cuddly canine works for curling up in your home, but when you walk out of class at the far end of campus and rain begins to absolutely pour down you reach for an umbrella (and feel exceedingly glad you don't have to smell wet dog for the rest of the day).

An umbrella can become a student's best friend - but still it consists of just metal and polyester, and inevitably it will break. So if you walk out of your far-flung class into a cloudburst and your umbrella chooses that moment to fatally malfunction, how do you deal positively with the sudden and tragic loss of your best friend?

For one thing, you should embrace this opportunity to truly appreciate the rain - most people never have such a genuine chance to appreciate the weather. Those who have never broken an umbrella never know the feeling of rain on their skin; those who have never owned an umbrella, period, quickly grow used to (and possibly resentful of) the rain and lose the ability to appreciate it fully. As someone thrust into the rain this one time, knowing you can go buy a new umbrella soon and likely only have to make this sodden trek once, you inhabit the best position possible for appreciating this rejuvenating gift of Mother Nature.

Additionally, your lack of protection from the rain provides you with a top-rate excuse to have a little fun. You're going to arrive soaked at your destination anyway, so why not revert to your childhood and jump in a few puddles? Or if you pass a striking young gentleman or lovely lady, why not take a shot at that movie-scene (every girl's dream) kiss in the rain? At the very least, enjoy your exemption from societal pressures and expectations - no one expects you to look good after traveling such a long distance through a downpour, and in fact most people feel sympathy and pity for you as a victim of bad circumstances.

Finally, as you rush to get out of the rain you might uncover a Good Samaritan who offers to share his or her umbrella with you. Bad circumstances can bring out the best in people, so use this opportunity to uncover the truly kind people in your community.

Next time you find yourself up campus in a downpour without an umbrella, put on a smile, wave goodbye to your bad hair day worries, and remember: if it wasn’t for the rain, we could never appreciate the sunshine.

Kiki found in her broken umbrella a wonderful new pointer!

Oh (Cold) Snap!: A Positive Look at Near-Negative Temperatures

I was never quite so aware of the weather as I am as a college student.

In high school, I could roll out of bed in the morning and throw on a sweatshirt as outerwear, reasonably sure that although I may face my mother's wrath I would not freeze to death before I returned to my bed.

I took it for granted that for five days a week from 7:30AM to about 4:00PM I would find myself safely cocooned within the cement walls of my learning establishment, moving from place to place without ever facing the elements. Five inches of snow could fall from the sky on a given day and I likely wouldn't notice until that final bell rang and I burst forth from the double glass doors, ran twenty feet across a parking lot and once again became ensconced in the warmth of my mom's waiting car.

No longer is this the case. As a college student, I wake up in the morning fully aware that whatever the weather brings today - be it rain or snow or sleet or hail, blazing inferno or arctic tundra (predicted low of three degrees Tuesday night, anyone?) - I will spend at least an hour of my time walking somewhere in it.

Nothing tests one's professed love of winter more profoundly than living through one in Loretto, PA. Many people say they love snow and cold weather, but just today I witnessed countless individuals sigh in frustration from under their mountain of blankets as they drained yet another mug of hot cocoa and implored, "Can spring just come now?"

Ah, winter weather - one of the many situations we encounter in life about which we can control nothing but our reaction (unless you're these people, apparently). So why should you laugh in the face of this frigid week?

Well for starters, it can't last forever. No matter how interminable the cold weather seems right now it will eventually come to an end, and before you know it you'll find yourself lying on the floor in front a fan, panting and wishing for December's cold again. So you might as well embrace winter while it lasts.

"But it's snowing, I can't do anything!" you might whine. This is not true. The snow creates a wonderful opportunity for you to connect with hobbies new and old. There's plenty to do outside in the snow, from beginning activities such as sled-riding, making snowmen, and having snowball fights to more advanced ones such as skiing, snowboarding, and ice skating. Photography is also a great option for those who like the outdoors but aren't so keen on high levels of activity.

If you're more of an indoors person, being snowed in can create the perfect excuse to rediscover an old hobby. Curl up under a blanket with a good book or a craft project and enjoy the beauty of the snow from the warmth and comfort of your couch.

No matter what you fancy, winter does offer something for you. You just need to look on the bright side to see it. So keep your chin up, your drinks warm, and enjoy this opportunity to wear all those cute sweaters you received for Christmas - at the same time! Happy Winter!

Snow is good!

A Positively Long-Term Writing Assignment

Don't lie. You know you sighed in sympathy just reading the title of this post. What average American college student wouldn't groan at the thought of a ten-week-long continuous writing assignment?

Well, to name just one, me.

And hopefully, after reading my blog, we can add your name to the list of people who forgo groaning, if not over an English project then over a coffee shortage or a bad exam grade or that one class that is just never cancelled or whatever other problems trouble the collegiate mind. Welcome to The Positivity Project, a happy spot on the web where life looks a little brighter.

Through this blog, I hope to bring you a better understanding of what it means to think positively. So many situations in life beat us down and stress us out, causing us to doubt ourselves, lose our faith, and eventually just give up. A lot of this stress arises from us trying to control situations that we truly cannot control. We struggle to change the way events happen and the way other people react to them, when in fact the only thing we can really control about most situations is the way we personally view and react to them.

Enter positivity. If, when faced with a stressful situation, we allow ourselves to be dragged down by it, buying into the negative mindset that we aren't strong enough and can't handle the trials life throws at us, we will undoubtedly spiral downwards into hopelessness and pain. If we look at the (literal or metaphorical) ten-week-long English assignment in our lives and think only, "I hate writing, I'm bad at writing, I don't have time for this project, I'm going to fail," well, then, we will fail. We might pull a passing grade out somehow, but we will fail to gain any real knowledge from the experience, being as we are too anxious to really perform well.

If, however, we look at the assignment with hope and joy, excited to try something new and thinking, "I've never done this before, but neither have most of my classmates. I resolve to try my best to enjoy the learning process and gain some new knowledge through this assignment," suddenly the project takes on a wonderful new quality. It's not a punishment, a struggle, or something to be feared. It's a challenge, a learning experience, and an exciting journey.

See how easy that was? It just takes a little conscious change in thinking to turn struggle into satisfaction. Thanks for walking this road to positivity with me. I hope you enjoy the ride.