There's an iconic scene in the 1952 classic, Singin' in the Rain starring Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds. It's a great scene and a great movie. The problem is that the scene really doesn't have anything to do with the movie's plot. Aside from the fact that the song that Kelly sings during the scene is the title of the movie itself, it seems oddly placed. Call me silly or just plain dense dumb, because I just don't understand why the scene is necessary to the rest of the story.
Kelly seems awfully happy, even though it's pouring down rain. And maybe that is the point of the scene that I am missing. "I'm singin' in the rain, just singin' in the rain. What a glorious feeling I am happy again." Admittedly though, he is wearing a heavy rain coat and has his umbrella with him (more on that below). He must have been expecting it to be a rainy day, as he was well-prepared for the worst sort of weather. Maybe he would have felt differently had he been wearing just his suit and had forgotten an umbrella.
Imagine how much easier it would be if we could accurately predict the weather! The physicist Stephen Hawking once said, "One can't predict the weather more than a few days in advance." I read on the Internet (so it must be true, right?) that a seven-day forecast is accurate about 80% of the time, while a five-day forecast is accurate almost 90% of the time. That should mean that the weather folks should be more than 90% accurate with the weather forecast 24 hours in advance, right?
The weather forecast for the Chicago area yesterday (Saturday) called for 80 degree weather and partly sunny skies. Sunday's forecast, on the other hand, was overcast skies and slightly colder weather. I think the weather folks got a little mixed up and confused. The weather was the exact opposite. Saturday was overcast, windy, and cooler, while today (Sunday) it is partly sunny, warm, and generally very pleasant! Of course, we planned a boat tour out on the Chicago River and Lake Michigan for Saturday afternoon, rather than Sunday. Perhaps I should have listened to Dr. Hawking more.
While the boat tour turned out just fine anyway, I am reminded of another time in the past couple of weeks when things didn't turn out so well. I am fortunate enough to be able to walk to and from work every day right now. I generally check the weather forecast before I leave in the morning, just in case. If the forecast calls for rain, I throw an umbrella into my shoulder bag. A few weeks ago, I checked the weather forecast for the day and it said "Partly Sunny in the morning with increasing clouds in the afternoon." But not a word was said about the possibility of rain. It started pouring down rain on the walk home, and I got soaked. No umbrella. No rain coat. So I definitely didn't "sing in the rain" - I just walked faster to get home as quickly as I could. Mark Twain famously said, "Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get." The weather got the best of me on that particular day.
There are at least three lessons here. I'll start with Dr. Hawking's lesson first. Even with all of the technology and scientific knowledge available today, we still can't reliably and consistently predict the weather with 100% accuracy. What is true for the weather is actually true for life in general. We really can't predict everything that is going to happen to us. We may have a reasonable idea of what might happen on any particular day, week, or month, but we can never know everything that's going to happen before it actually does happen. The lesson here is that we shouldn't try. Life will throw us a few curveballs every so often, and that is okay. Some times it just happens to rain unexpectedly on the way home from work.
Mr. Twain would probably agree with Dr. Hawking, but I think he would have taken things one step further. I think Mark Twain would have argued that we should be better prepared for those times when it unexpectedly rains on the walk home. In other words, we should come up with a more reliable plan to deal with the unexpected events as they occur. In my case, perhaps I should throw a small umbrella and carry it with me every day. Or, I could always make sure that I have a spare umbrella at work, just in case. Either choice would be more reliable. Perhaps that is exactly how Mr. Kelly found himself with a rain coat and umbrella in the movie, "Singin' in the Rain," which brings me to my third and final lesson.
There are times when it's just going to rain. We shouldn't let a little rain bother us or ruin an otherwise happy day. I think Mr. Kelly said it best, "Let the stormy clouds chase everyone from the place. Come on with the rain, I've a smile on my face." If it's raining, just smile and be happy anyway. Who cares if it's raining anyway?
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