{"id":783,"date":"2013-08-16T09:47:39","date_gmt":"2013-08-16T09:47:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=783"},"modified":"2013-08-13T22:08:13","modified_gmt":"2013-08-13T22:08:13","slug":"at-the-whim-of-the-weather-or-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/08\/at-the-whim-of-the-weather-or-not.html","title":{"rendered":"At the Whim of the Weather…Or Not"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Image<\/a>
Image courtesy of dan\/FreeDigitalPhotos.net<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Periodically, I’ve delved into research about whether the weather affects people’s health. Some arthritis sufferers, for example, insist that their condition worsens as rain approaches, and some who suffer from depression often report that their mood is darker when the skies are also cloudy.\u00a0 One theory for which there is some credible work\u00a0is that the change in barometric pressure may cause some to feel their aches and pains more acutely.\u00a0 Other research seems inconclusive, although there is a condition called\u00a0seasonal affective disorder (SAD), which is known to cause mood changes, especially during the darker, drearier days of winter.<\/p>\n

As a lupus patient who cannot spend a great deal of time outdoors during the day, and thus does not “soak up the vitamin A” like other people do, I can empathize with people who feel a bit at the whim of the weather or, at least, at the whim of a sun-dappled day. But I also think that much of our reaction to the weather outside is due to our perceptions within. A sunny, beautiful day begs for us to go outside and play, whereas the steady beat of rain and howl of wind reminds us all too well of our mere mortality – God’s nature getting the better of our outdoor aspirations.<\/p>\n

I’m certainly not downplaying the very real affects of SAD, nor do I think that other symptoms thought to arise because of weather phenomena are “all in one’s head.” But I also think that how we allow ourselves to regard nature can to some extent be tempered and, thus, we need not curl up into a proverbial ball when a storm looms on the horizon.<\/p>\n

One of the ways that I try to turn a day-made-“bad”-by-rain around is to marvel at the natural event itself and think of all the good it does. Nurturing dry land. Washing the landscape (or cityscape) clean. Bringing variety to an otherwise unbroken string of moderate weather (a really great thing in California!).<\/p>\n

Another way to greet a stormy day with optimism is to have other plans at the ready. Raining on your parade? Picnic indoors.\u00a0 Can’t exercise because you can’t get out? Pop in an exercise video and go to it! Feeling achy because it’s cold\/windy\/ugly outside? Allow yourself the luxury of an at-home spa day and relax!<\/p>\n

Bad weather need not limit us, it just might make us change our plans a little. After all, we know the clouds do lift, and better days come. And in the meantime, we can admire God’s imagination and handiwork drop by drop and cloud by cloud.<\/p>\n

Blessings for the day,<\/p>\n

Maureen<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Periodically, I’ve delved into research about whether the weather affects people’s health. Some arthritis sufferers, for example, insist that their condition worsens as rain approaches, and some who suffer from depression often report that their mood is darker when the skies are also cloudy.\u00a0 One theory for which there is some credible work\u00a0is that the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,4,383,379],"tags":[674,507,37,676,18,30,673,672,127,675,444,125],"class_list":["post-783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-encouragement-in-life","category-words-of-encouragemnent-and-info-for-all","category-heart-health","category-lupus-2","tag-arthritis","tag-depression","tag-gods-creation","tag-gods-nature","tag-lupus","tag-pain","tag-sad","tag-seasonal-affective-disorder","tag-storms","tag-sunshine","tag-symptoms","tag-weather"],"yoast_head":"\nAt the Whim of the Weather...Or Not - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/08\/at-the-whim-of-the-weather-or-not.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"At the Whim of the Weather...Or Not - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Periodically, I’ve delved into research about whether the weather affects people’s health. Some arthritis sufferers, for example, insist that their condition worsens as rain approaches, and some who suffer from depression often report that their mood is darker when the skies are also cloudy.\u00a0 One theory for which there is some credible work\u00a0is that the…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/08\/at-the-whim-of-the-weather-or-not.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-08-16T09:47:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-08-13T22:08:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2012\/10\/stormy-weather-by-dan-300x186.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mpratt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"At the Whim of the Weather...Or Not - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/08\/at-the-whim-of-the-weather-or-not.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"At the Whim of the Weather...Or Not - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","og_description":"Periodically, I’ve delved into research about whether the weather affects people’s health. Some arthritis sufferers, for example, insist that their condition worsens as rain approaches, and some who suffer from depression often report that their mood is darker when the skies are also cloudy.\u00a0 One theory for which there is some credible work\u00a0is that the…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/08\/at-the-whim-of-the-weather-or-not.html","og_site_name":"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","article_published_time":"2013-08-16T09:47:39+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-08-13T22:08:13+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2012\/10\/stormy-weather-by-dan-300x186.jpg"}],"author":"mpratt","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/08\/at-the-whim-of-the-weather-or-not.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/08\/at-the-whim-of-the-weather-or-not.html","name":"At the Whim of the Weather...Or Not - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/08\/at-the-whim-of-the-weather-or-not.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/08\/at-the-whim-of-the-weather-or-not.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2012\/10\/stormy-weather-by-dan-300x186.jpg","datePublished":"2013-08-16T09:47:39+00:00","dateModified":"2013-08-13T22:08:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#\/schema\/person\/b47fd8e9d9cc9750d5779f75b8669a32"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/08\/at-the-whim-of-the-weather-or-not.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/08\/at-the-whim-of-the-weather-or-not.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/08\/at-the-whim-of-the-weather-or-not.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2012\/10\/stormy-weather-by-dan-300x186.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2012\/10\/stormy-weather-by-dan-300x186.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/08\/at-the-whim-of-the-weather-or-not.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"At the Whim of the Weather…Or Not"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/","name":"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","description":"Beliefnet Voices","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#\/schema\/person\/b47fd8e9d9cc9750d5779f75b8669a32","name":"mpratt","description":"Several years ago, Maureen Pratt earned her Master of Fine Arts in Theater Arts\/Playwriting from UCLA's School of Theater, FIlm and Television. She expected to be writing scripts. God had other plans. A few years after her graduation, Maureen was diagnosed with a life-threatening case of organ-involved lupus. Her life turned upside down as she grappled with the effects of the illness and other health conditions that ensued. She was no stranger to serious health challenges; even as a child, Maureen had survived numerous bouts of pneumonia, flu, and other infections. But lupus made her take a fresh look at her life goals - and took herlifelong, strong Catholic Christian faith and writing in a direction she'd never imagined. Today, Maureen writes and speaks about walking with the Lord while living with chronic pain and illness. Her most recent book is \"Don't Panic!: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough (Franciscan Media). She is also the author of, \"Peace in the Storm: Meditations on Chronic Pain & Illness\" (Image Books\/Randomhouse), \"Beyond Pain: Job, Jesus, and Joy\" (Twenty-Third Publications), \"The First Year: Hypothyroidism, Second Edition\" (Perseus) and \"Taking Charge of Lupus: How to Manage the Disease and Make the Most of Your LIfe.\" She writes the syndicated column, \"Living Well,\" for Catholic News Service, and has also written for Saint Anthony Messenger Magazine, Journey for Women Magazine, The Upper Room Magazine, LupusNow, and Arthritis Today. Maureen's health continues to be a challenge, however she feels honored to be able to bring her perspective, from experience and knowledge, to others. \"Good Days...Bad Days with Maureen Pratt\" is a new way for Maureen to reach people who carry the burden of illness and pain in their lives, or who care for someone who does. Through the blog, she hopes to bring issues of health, wellness, and spirit into focus and, especially, inspire others that, no matter what health challenges, illness, or hardships they endure, each person can find a good way to realize the wonderful potential God has placed within each heart and soul.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.maureenpratt.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/author\/mpratt"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/548"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=783"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":784,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783\/revisions\/784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}