The weather here in the Denver area was extraordinary this past Saturday. Temperatures set a record high of 74 degrees. Within 12 hours the temperature was 28 degrees with snow not only coming down but blowing sideways due to high winds.

Today, Monday, the sun is back and the snow is melting. The wild and varied weather swings of Colorado remind me much of what business and life are like. One day we’re figuratively lying on the beach and the next we’re freezing in hail storm.

Which is your “normal” weather?

Over time it is easy to become discouraged and let snow and ice become our normal  emotional weather. We still get sunny and warm some occasionally but look at those days as the exception rather than the norm.

Weather is never subject to our control. Fortunately much of our lives (but not all) is within our control. Our choices, habits, beliefs and behaviors create much of the climate of our lives.

Even the best of us get ice and snow, whether due to our choices or simple circumstance. When it happens, and especially when it is prolonged, we think temporary conditions have become permanent.

I hope you’re enjoying pleasant metaphorical weather right now wherever you’re at. But if you’re not, consider two things: first, unlike the weather, there is much you can choose to do to change your climate and second, if you can’t control the weather you’re experiencing, you can still control how your respond to it. Either of those should provide hope for better weather, even in the midst of a storm.