I fell asleep before I published this.

Yesterday was a long day and as I did my weekly commute from Dubai to Abu Dhabi, it was raining. Unlike London, rain is welcomed in the desert such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It’s considered a blessing as it means that temperatures will drop to about 15 degrees (celcius). Those of you who watch Game of Thrones, I’m sure you are familiar with the wonder of when “winter is coming”, here in the UAE we often wonder the same thing.

Yesterday’s rain has determined winter to have arrived. (huray)

When I first moved to London, I loved rain, however after the first few days of rain my love was changing into something less favourable. I didnt want to get out of bed to go to my classes. I felt my body crave sunlight desperately. Having been in the desert for most of my life, I was used to having 360 days of sun, so I am very much a sunny, warm weather person. It took a lot of getting used to.

Have you ever been curious about why the weather effects our mood?

Since this post is about rain in the desert, I will only explore two types of weather, sunny days and rainy days.

Rain causes you to eat more. Rainy days can cause your serotonin levels to dip, which increases carbohydrate cravings.  It has been scientifically proven and according to Judith Wurtman, former scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and co-author of The Serotonin Power Diet, eating carbohydrates helps people feel better because the carbs immediately increase serotonin levels.That explains why I wanted to have a jacket potato, every single day whilst in London. All day, erryday.

Now for sunlight, the positive effects are, to name a few, people are more optimistic, open to possibilities, helpful and makes people spend more money. Well now, if you’ve been to the middle east, which is filled with fancy cars, fancy buildings, basically endless fanciness (mashaAllah) the last point explains a lot. Lack of cloudy weather and increase in positive mood makes people shop and well in the case of the UAE, build a wonderful nation.

Over the years I have learnt to not be effected by the weather, of course it is much easier to remain a positive person back in the UAE, however even in London the last couple of years I was there, I would embrace the weather, whether good or “bad” because I knew, the sun would shine again. In the words of John Ruskin, who was Irish and I would like to take a moment before I quote him to emphasise how much I like Irish people. They’re so warm at heart and honestly one of the nicest people I have come across. Anyway this is what he said “Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather. We may have bad weather in Ireland, but the sun shines in the hearts of the people and that keeps us all warm.”

(Featured photo: Someone I used to know sent it to me last year)

Selectively Curious©