Delightful

Do other places in the world have feelings associated with their weather forecast in the newspaper?

My order for reading the local newspaper:

1. Police Blotter
2. Obituaries
3. Dear Abby
4. Weather Report

There are times I read the articles, but it's hard to get through to newspaper conglomerates that Fairbanks is not actually local news.

It's the weather report that sometimes makes me the craziest. There are times a day is forecast as "dull and dreary" or this Wednesday is supposed to be "partly sunny and delightful." 

I'm used to weather writers having to come up with fifty million ways to talk about rain, but I can't wrap my brain around forecasting how I will experience a sunny or rainy day. 

Sunny days are rarely delightful for me. They are exhausting, grueling, and adventurous. Like today, where I did a seven hour hike up a strenuous mountain. I'm not sure "delightful" is the right word, but then again it's not supposed to be delightful until Wednesday.

Here's the thing. . . nobody gets to tell me what to feel. 

I hear people talk about just wanting to make someone happy and I tell them that's controlling bullshit. You don't get to make anyone happy. 

How someone responds emotionally to what is going on around them is their responsibility. You can put experiences in place, be a truthful and gracious companion, but you can't force someone to be happy. 

It's the Disney syndrome where parents start melting down on kids who aren't having fun - "We paid a ton of money for you to have fun!" You can take a kid to Disney but you can't make them enjoy it. 

You can forecast a sunny day, but you can't make me delight in it. Actually, I have lots of office work for Wednesday so I will have to stare out my window at a beautiful day and become grumpy. 

And I kind of love cloudy days. You think dreary; I think cozy reading. 

It will make us crazy to try and forecast peoples' emotional reaction to experiences. 

When we try to manipulate emotional responses, then relationships get really out of whack. I've heard people censor themselves or the truth because they know it will upset someone else. 

I'm not for being a jerk, but if it's truth then intimacy and trust is damaged when you refrain. That's a serious control issue when you walk on egg shells trying to keep the other "happy". 

I trust the people around me to be emotionally mature and responsible for themselves. I don't entertain or pander. I rarely censor (even though folks might appreciate a little more), but I try to show up as myself ready for adventure rain or shine. 

Folks can figure out on their own if its delightful or dreary.