Don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines. — Satchel Paige

Don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines.

Author: Satchel Paige

Insight: This quote cuts at something we all recognize: the tendency to reach for faith or hard work only when things fall apart. We're decent at prayers in the crisis, less consistent when life is rolling smoothly. It's easy to feel grateful and purposeful during struggle—desperation sharpens focus. But consistency is what actually builds a life. The non-obvious part is that this applies far beyond religion. It's about any practice we claim to value: exercise, creativity, time with people we love, learning something new. We tell ourselves we'll start meditating when we're less stressed, or write that novel when things calm down, or finally call our parents when life settles. But life doesn't settle. The person who only shows up during emergencies is running on fumes, not foundation. What Paige is really saying is that our commitments reveal what we actually believe, not what we say we believe. The sun-shining version of you—the one building habits without pressure, without crisis as motivation—that's the real version. That's who shows up when rain inevitably comes. It's less dramatic than emergency faith, but infinitely more durable.

Source: Hal Boyle Says --, New York Post, 1959-10-04