Yesterday, I saw a full rainbow and it was a good reminder of how beauty often appears after the storm clears. For the past six months I’ve been dealing with one of the biggest personal challenges I’ve faced in my life yet. However, I’m a huge believer in reframing any circumstance you find yourself in.
I used to be an avid photographer and one of the key understandings I learnt during my time taking thousands of photos is — If you ever wanted to get good lighting or a beautiful sunset you had to have the right weather conditions.
Now what are the right weather conditions? If it’s a clear day without a cloud in the sky you’ll often get a mediocre sunset. Sure it will look alright but it’s not going to be one of those sunsets everyone on your Instagram posts a story of.
If you want a real sunset - you’re going to need some rain and clouds. It sounds counter intuitive wishing for poor weather when you want to catch a beautiful sunset, but it’s the only way to produce an exceptional result.
Back in the day my friend Mark, another talented photographer and I would often drive for multiple hours through wet weather in hopes of catching the ever elusive magical sunset. Most of the time our journeys would lead to nothing but for a small fraction of our trips the conditions would line up perfectly and we’d spend the entire evening chasing the light.
If you want a mediocre sunset (or life that is) wish for clear skies. However, if you want to live an exceptional life full of vibrant colors — you need to be okay with a few rainy days. A key takeaway here is understanding that not every rainy day is going to lead to a magnificent sunset and you need to be okay with that. However, a day may come when things are looking their worst and you are soaking wet until suddenly you look up.