I woke up extra early the other day to curl my hair and do my makeup, for no other reason than to look nice. I went through my morning routine perfecting my hair and picking out a cute outfit with my new sneakers.
As soon as I stepped outside my dorm, the sky turned gray and rain started pouring down. I reached for my umbrella and it wasn’t there. Of course — the one day I forget my umbrella, my hair and makeup are done perfectly. My early morning set with a positive tone took a quick negative turn.
“When it rains, it pours,” I thought to myself as I walked into class with my hair dripping wet and my makeup completely smudged.
The more I thought about my morning of misfortune, the more I thought about the idiom, “When it rains it pours.” Obviously it literally fit my situation, as the torrential downpour raged on, but how did it connect with the series of bad luck everyone occasionally experiences? I wondered, “Where did this phrase come from, why is this phrase used so often and ultimately, why do bad things seem to happen all at once?”
After a bit of research, I found the saying originated from a Morton Salt Company advertisement and had very little to do with bad things happening, but rather was an ad for anti-clumping salt caused by weather change.
The idea of negativity and bad things happening all at one time was attached to the idiom as a way for people to express their perceived string of ‘bad luck.’ Many of us have felt overwhelmed with a series of bad or unfortunate events happening to us, but are things really as bad as our mind leads us to believe?
When it rains, does it really pour?
Creating universal phrases to place meaning or organization behind otherwise random negative events seems to be a natural human reaction. Bad things happen to everyone, but when bad things seem to happen in a pattern, a lot of people fall into a negativity bias.
In other words, focusing on the random number of negative events that happen makes it really easy to feel like everything in life is going wrong.
Researchers at King’s College in London conducted a 2016 study involving mindset shifts in patients who experienced a generalized anxiety disorder. According to the study, researchers found that patients diagnosed with a generalized anxiety disorder who verbalized negative thoughts over a week continued to stay in a state of high stress, combating an overly anxious mindset. On the other hand, patients who practiced replacing negative thoughts with positive thoughts or experiences within the same week had reduced feelings of anxiety and stress.
It’s amazing that working on shifting to a positive mindset really can make all the difference!
So, when it feels like bad things are pouring into your life, know that strings of bad luck are universal and sometimes a mindset could change your whole mood and perspective.
To begin to shift into a better mindset, it might be helpful to practice positive affirmations and by continuing to engage in positive situations: hanging out with friends, participating in a hobby or going on a walk.
Focusing on the small positives in your otherwise rainy day can serve as a rain coat protecting you from the gray clouds of negativity. And while a positive attitude can’t fix everything, at least it’s a start toward brighter days.
