Rain, “No Pasa Nada,” and Thankfulness as an Attitude

My day had started badly. I’d refused to get up when my alarm clock went off. When I finally did crawl out of bed a while later, I had to scramble to get everything done in time.

Arriving at the metro station, I found that I had not only missed the earlier train but that the second train, which would get me to class barely on time, was cancelled. I sighed and waited for the next metro to come – one that would get me to my class late. A class I wasn’t particularly looking forward to.

I took a deep breath and told myself, “No pasa nada,” a Spanish phrase essentially used to say that it’ll all be fine. I tried to look at the positive, tried to rationalise away the negative.

“It doesn’t really matter if I will be 15 minutes late,” I told myself. “Plenty of people arrive later than that.” But I didn’t want to be part of those “plenty of people.” Deep down, I was irritated.

As a TCK I was all for adapting to different cultures, but a part of me stupidly prided myself in maintaining other cultural characteristics as well. Such as being on time.

The metro arrived – more crowded than usual, as the previous one had been cancelled. 

I squeezed my way in. The 20-minute ride was less than pleasant. For one, it was stuffy and tight, and for another, I couldn’t help checking the time every few minutes. It was pointless, really; checking the time wouldn’t get me there earlier.

“No pasa nada,” I told myself again. “It doesn’t matter.” But to me, it did. The text message I got from a classmate asking me if I was coming wasn’t helping my stress levels either.

Finally, the metro arrived at my station. Squeezing myself out, I pulled on a hoodie (which I had taken off inside the stuffy metro), and started speed-walking to the university. I had barely taken two steps when the clouds above me broke open, letting out a shower of rain.

I don’t think I have ever been more excited about rain than at that moment. Living in a place that rarely sees rain must have done that to me.

Almost instantly, my mood lifted. 

The rain poured down as I crossed the street and headed for the street with the incline. My glasses were covered in droplets before I knew it, and my hoodie was rapidly getting more and more wet too. Impulsively, I whispered a heartfelt “Thank You, Jesus.”

And then it hit me. Of course! Why had I not realised earlier?

The attitude that would get me through the day wasn’t “No pasa nada.” It was “Thank You, Jesus.” That was the attitude I wanted to cultivate.

It took a shower of drenching rain to make me snap out of my bad attitude and thank God for the little things.

Thankfulness is key for the big life changes that a TCK so often experiences, but it is equally important (perhaps even more so?) in the little moments. It’s important in everyday life, like on that day when you don’t want to go to that class or get that task done.

Thankfulness is more than focusing on the good or rationalising away the bad. It’s about focusing on God.

Psalm 107:1 says,

"Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!" (ESV)

It doesn’t say, “Give thanks because everything is going to work out,” or, “Give thanks because the bad things aren’t that big of a deal.”

It says to give thanks because of who God is.

As I sit and write this, I hear rain outside my window. It’s pitter-pattering on the roof of the building beside me.

I’ve been thinking about rain a lot lately. And about thankfulness.

In the Bible, many people built altars or set up markers to remember a certain situation in which God had come through or to remember a certain lesson they had learned. I want to make rain my reminder to have an attitude of thankfulness.

And for now, I might just leave that window open and listen to the pitter-patter a little longer.

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