Well today is a close repeat of yesterday. Leaving the house at 10 with cloudy skies and 59 degrees. It’s looking doubtful that the sun will ever come out today. Again, I’m not feeling eager to get in the water but I know myself well enough to figure that will change nearly as soon as I dive in. Really missing the sun. Not much beats a beautiful sunny day at the beach. Last week’s Thursday and Friday were beautiful.

I was not always like this. I actually used to not like sunshine until a few years ago. I grew up in Southern California. Sunny days are pretty much the norm here. I can remember lying in my bed after waking up as a child and trying to wish away the streaks of sun that would shine on my wall through the blinds. If only they would fade, it would be nice and cloudy. I used to think I had some inverse variant of seasonal affective disorder. I wouldn’t say that every sunny day was terrible - not at all. However I definitely preferred cloudy and there were some days I found the sun more irksome than others. Hard to describe why exactly. I liked the lower sensory impact of a cloudy day. I can remember sometimes being relieved after the sun would go down.

About 12 years ago, my family moved to the Seattle area. Definitely got much less sunshine there. I felt like I had come home. I loved the Seattle weather. Well about 5 years ago I had a sort of spiritual break through that brought a new perspective and a new way of responding to my environment. I began to approach life with more of an openness and receptivity of what was happening around me. I was mindful of surrendering to and embracing what life was bringing my way even when it did not align with my idea of the reality I wanted. I’m not saying at all that I lived or live in some blissed out state. I definitely don’t, but this marked a definite shift.

I can totally remember shortly after this happened, I was sitting on a Washington beach on a sunny day. I sat there and just let myself breath in the sunlight with a mind to be open to its warmth. Well guess what? It felt really good. One thing I liked about cold and cloudy was the excuse to wear more layers. However with this new mindset, I really liked less layers. I liked the feel of air on my skin. The idea of moving back to SoCal began to seem like a really good idea (not just because of weather). Well 2.5 years ago we moved back and I love love love the sun! That all said, a cloudy day every now and again is still nice but the sun is no longer an oppressive force.

Aaaaaanyhoooo…today…not so sunny and yeah I wish it was but its not and so I move onward to the beach in the clouds.

Walking down the stairs I strike up a conversation with a couple of guys about my kinesio tape on my achilles. Always a good conversation piece. Now here is another thing that has changed in these last 5 years. I like talking to strangers. I still consider myself a pretty extreme introvert but I like the feeling of exchanging positive vibes with someone I don’t know. I’m probably not going to invite them to lunch but even a quick smile gives me a little boost. If you can do no more than simply smile at someone and elicit a smile back, you have improved there quality of life (and yours) maybe just for a moment but I think there is something to be said for that.

On the beach the water feels the same as yesterday but after I dive in the water I’d say it is a tad warmer. And yes, I immediately feel grateful to be here. Any hesitancy to swim today is totally gone. Conditions are really similar to yesterday. The surf might be a touch bigger and the water more textured. When I get to the south end of the swim, a wave breaks way out where I am. It wasn’t scary big or anything but I have never seen a wave break this far out and close to me. I have seen it from the shore so I know its not super odd.

When I finish up and get back to shore, it is a little cooler than yesterday and I decide to put on a sweatshirt for the climb back to the parking lot. Overall a great swim!