The rainy day letter

While some of life’s difficult passages are impossible to anticipate, thankfully, they are not impossible to prepare for; that is the purpose of the ‘rainy day letter’.  It can function as a bridge over life’s chasms as a way to help transform difficult moments into experiences of mastery and hope.

 

The ‘rainy day letter’ is a way to remind yourself of strengths and resources at those very times when they are most needed.

 

How to make your own rainy day letter.

This is a letter from you to you.  It should be written in a moment of relative calm and well-being.  It is an emotional insurance policy against the inevitability of those darker moments that come at various times in our life – a sort of emergency road side repair kit for the spirit.

It should contain, but is not limited, to the following

a list of nurturing activities to do

a list of nurturing people to call

reminders of your positive character traits

reminders of spiritual or philosophical beliefs that strengthen you

reminders of some of your dreams and hopes for the future

special advice or other reminders important to you

 

Once completed, put the letter in a place where you can easily find it whenever needed.

 

These are not my own words, but I am not sure where they came from – the hand-out said ‘excerpted from living well is the best revenge’ but there seem to be several books with that title.  Apologies!