Some People Feel The Rain, Others Just Get Wet

Live your life in an open, ready to receive way. If you’re not feeling the rain, you’re not living. Get out there and experience this life!

Some People Feel The Rain

When you think about your world, do you tend to be a glass half full or glass half empty person? I don’t mean the person you portray to the public – I mean in your heart of hearts, known only to you. Do you usually think that everything is going to be okay? Or are you pretty sure that it won’t be? One isn’t better than the other – they both have their benefits – but it is about finding a balance and making it work for your life. As one of my favorite quotes goes, “Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet.”

These words tend to be thought of as a Bob Dylan or Bob Marley quote, but they are more likely attributed to Roger Miller. Miller was a singer and song writer who was most active in his career during the 60s, 70s and 80s. During an ABC television show, he was recorded as saying these now famous words – “Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet.” 

It is a very quotable quote, so it’s no surprise that there is some confusion as to who said it. Even authors like James W. Moore named his book, “Some Folks Feel The Rain Others Just Get Wet.”

Whether it was originally Mr. Marley, Mr. Miller, Mr. Dylan or someone completely different, the meaning is what’s important. 

I tend to be a glass half full person – to a fault. I live my life believing that there is some kind of plan and I tend to think of the obstacles as being put there for me to learn from. So where does this put me on a daily basis? Usually I try to see the world as a beautiful place with gifts to give, lessons to offer and vulnerabilities to nurture.

I love the little things, like when my son can’t help but burst out laughing or when my daughter gives a relaxed sigh while I’m hugging her. I eat those up. This isn’t to say that I don’t see the world for what it is. I am not naive, I am a Chicagoan and very familiar with the uncertainty of things.

I think that I’m tougher than I am, I am sarcastic, I’m a realist, and I like things to be fair, even if they’re not in my favor. But when something happens that doesn’t fit into the glass-half-full-world that I see? It is devastating to me. I can’t make sense of it because I am never ready for it. And that’s the rub.

Sometimes I wish that I had a harder shell. I wish that I could watch the news and spend time on Facebook without having to speed past all of the negativity about our world. I want to raise my children in an environment where they are as safe as possible, and part of that means that I have to take care of my own anxiety.

I know that I’m not alone in this. You can’t shut out the entire world (nor should you) and you have to live your life. There are responsibilities that we have to take care of regardless of our mental state or the state of the world. You cannot completely shut down and you cannot run around consistently vulnerable. It is a tightrope walk on a fine line between too much and too little.

The above quote is one that I love because it is a statement about one’s attitude with daily living. It is a commentary about what you want and what you are willing to experience to get there. What gratitude you are able to feel along the way and how vulnerable you are willing to be.

As I’m writing this, the song “Wait For It” from Hamilton is running through my head.

“We laugh and we cry
And we break
And we make our mistakes…
I’m willing to wait for it.”

Feeling the rain is a matter of being in it. Being willing to risk being open and letting it drizzle in. Regardless of whether your glass is typically half full or half empty, you can feel the rain. Be open to the process that this world may have in store for you. Feel the rain when you are in it and appreciate those moments. Otherwise, you are just getting wet.