"Sometimes it rains"

There was a great movie about baseball that came out in 1988 called "Bull Durham", starring Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, and Tim Robbins.  It happens to be one of my all-time favorite sports movies.  Robbins' character, Ebby Calvin "Nuke" LaLoosh has a memorable scene at the end of the movie where he leaves us all with a great quote (he actually borrowed the quote from Costner's character, Crash Davis) that goes like this:


A good friend of mine used to say, "This is a very simple game.  You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball.  Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes it rains."  Think about that for a while.


"Sometimes it rains."  Well, isn't that the truth?  I think what Nuke is saying here (and I think he surprisingly got Crash's point here too) is that things don't always go your way.  Sometimes you win (or succeed).  Sometimes you lose (or fail).  Sometimes there are sunny days.  Sometimes there are rainy ones.  It really doesn't matter.  What truly matters is you - your attitude, your perseverance, and your resilience.


I suspect that most of us enjoy sunny days far more than the rainy ones.  Rain has certainly been used as a metaphor throughout the ages, but the metaphor is often a complicated one.  For example, I don't think anyone would question that dark, dreary days filled with storm clouds, thunder, lightning, and rain are often used to symbolize feelings of sorrow, loss, failure, despondence, and gloom.  However, there is a deeper meaning to the rain here.  The rain itself often symbolizes healing and rebirth.  Note the common sayings, "Let the rain wash away the pain of yesterday" or "You can't have a rainbow without the rain."  Rain, at least as used here, provides a kind of spiritual cleansing.


I am reminded of a Led Zeppelin song called, simply enough, "The Rain Song".  There is a stanza at the end of the song that goes like this:


These are the seasons of emotion
And like the wind, they rise and fall
This is the wonder of devotion
I see the torch
We all must hold
This is the mystery of the quotient
Upon us all, a little rain must fall


In other words, you can't have the sun without the rain, or at least you can't appreciate the sun without living through the rain every once in a while.  Rain again is life-giving.  It means renewal and rebirth.  We appreciate the bad, as well as the good.


So, next time you are dealing with a frustration in either your personal or professional life, remember that you have to experience the lows to really, truly enjoy the highs.  The next time you fail to get that new position or promotion, remember to be grateful for the job that you currently have.  The next time you receive negative feedback or a formal letter of complaint, remember the times when you received a letter of thanks or positive feedback.  In other words, remember Nuke LaLoosh.  Remember "The Rain Song."  Remember, "sometimes it rains..."