overcast or dreary? 271/366

I was sitting at soccer practice this afternoon and looked up.

No blue in sight, though I knew it was up there, behind the heavy cloud cover.

I snapped a picture.

It was dreary and a good representation of how I was feeling.

I compared the picture to the actual sky and realized it didn't match.

So I got ready to take another and slid the exposure until it was more realistic.

 

Still no blue in sight,

still heavy, heavy cloud cover

but not nearly as dark as it felt.

It was a great reminder that feelings, 

while normal, 

are a horrible lens to base decisions on.

They tend to exaggerate reality,

one direction or the other,

making things appear infinitely better or worse than they are.

When I am "caught up in" feelings

it is important that I slow down, 

sometimes even stop and take a breath. 

I have to give myself time 

and permission

to question and, if need be, adjust the lens I am looking through.

In the end I decided it wasn't so much a dreary day,

as it was overcast as I'd heard someone describe it earlier.

Sometimes the difference in how things "feel" is all in the way you look at them.

ps

Not an hour after I shared this post Sarah sent a picture, then video of a rainbow. Not just any rainbow, a bright double rainbow from near her home in Russell Springs, KY. This summer I learned something new. When she sees a rainbow there, I can sometimes see one here so I went outside searching. Sure enough, one was peeping through and as I stood in awe, my heart swelling with praise and tears of joy filling my eyes, I watched a whole rainbow be revealed, and part of a second one. Oh how sweet it is to be loved by a God who keeps His promises. Every single one of them. And sends us reminders of His faithfulness.

there 

here