In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.
— Albert Camus

It was an exciting day. She finally moved into a new house, a lovely house with a charming little green garden. From the day she came to view it, she fell in love with it. From the moment she walked in, it felt as if the house wrapped its walls around her in a warm welcoming hug. She had a strong feeling they belonged to each other.

She truly loved it there. It seemed like unpacking, otherwise quite a tedious and boring task, took her only minutes. As if things were flying from the boxes to the shelves and cupboards, already knowing where their place was.

She loved having her morning coffee in the garden, watching the little birds playfully swaying on branches. She watched them and felt watched at the same time as her little feathered neighbours were coming closer, peeking from behind the leaves, curious and eager to get to know the newcomer.

One morning she made her coffee and opened the front door ready to step out but stopped in her tracks. It was pouring with rain. The skies were grey and heavy. It was going to be one of those days best spent under a blanket with a book. ‘Change of plans’, she thought. She took her coffee to the bedroom and without even opening the curtains, snuggled into a cozy armchair.

It was coming to ten o’clock, so she decided to get moving. She opened the curtain. The heavens were still weeping inconsolably.  She sighed, and opened the window slightly to let some fresh air in. Through the opening, she caught a glimpse of a ray of sunshine kissing the lawn outside. For a moment she thought she imagined it. How was it possible that the weather would change within seconds? She pushed the window open, and as it widened, it revealed a gorgeous sunny day. A little finch flew by, and she could have sworn it gave her a little wink as it was passing.

She was standing there stunned while her mind was frantically running in circles trying to make sense of what she had just witnessed.

She ran to the door and opened it – the rain was still performing a steady rhythm on the rooftops like the most devoted of drummers. She shut the door and opened it again. The drum solo continued. She ran back to the bedroom, opened the window again: gorgeous blue sky without a single cloud.

She went from room to room checking one window after another. Behind the window of her study, it was mostly sunny with a light drizzle and a beautiful rainbow in the distance. The living room window offered a distant muted grumble of thunder. The bathroom window’s weather was decent but quite windy.

She kept going from room to room as if opening each window again and again would help her make more sense of what she was seeing.

She decided to take her experiment a step further. She opened the door again and stepped out into the rain, letting herself get soaked. Then she went back to the bedroom, which undoubtedly had the best weather.  She opened the window as wide as possible and climbed through it. She found herself on the perfectly dry grass of her lawn, feeling the warm rays of sunshine making the raindrops on her skin disappear.

She enjoyed the sunshine for a while and decided to go around the house and see what happens if she tries to come back through the main door. She walked through the sunny garden, bright courtyard, up to her front door bathed in the rays of the sun. She still couldn’t believe it. A few minutes ago, she was standing outside the same door getting soaking wet. She went in, closed the door and opened it again just to witness the same percussive rhythm as before, steady and unchanging.

Her shock slowly started giving way to amusement. Does it mean that every day she can have any weather she chooses? What a gift! She laughed out loud and the walls of the house echoed gently as if the house laughed with her.

Later, when the impossibility of choosing her own weather became strangely familiar, she had a realisation. In a way, each one of us lives in such a magical house where we can choose a window with better weather. We all dwell in the houses of our minds, with thoughts for windows. Each thought opens a new perspective and holds the power to carry us into another reality.

If the thought you’re looking through brings rain and storm, try another one. And another. Keep going until you find the one that carries you into the warm embrace of sunshine under a blue, open sky. Or just any weather you like. It’s worth it, even if it sometimes requires climbing.