Accepting Winter

In our house, you don't dare leave a glass of water anywhere and then return later to take a drink from it. No, because most likely, one of our cats will have taken kitty sips from your glass. They prefer their water that way.

I've written before about the world which exists inside our house and that world becomes clearer and cozier during winter. 

Years ago I discovered, though,that I ruin this indoor world by not accepting the outdoor icy one. Oh my, I had to accept these frozen months, that it come to terms with these frozen months. I had to accept that it snows here, much, making it too cold, slippery to take afternoon walks. And how we'll have many dark, sunless days and the roads will be treacherous so I'll stay home a great deal (and try not to worry about Tom and Naomi out there).

I wrote about acceptance earlier and this is a prime example of what I meant: There will be no joy for me in winter if I do not accept winter and all that it brings.
Think about it. If I'm always dreading January and February, moaning about dark days and having to shovel the driveway snow and paying those exorbitant heating bills, well, my own personal winter will be long and miserable. Year after year. (No rocket science involved there.)

So today I'll bundle up, shovel our driveway and be thankful for the exercise I'd otherwise miss because it's too cold to take a walk in 12 degree F. weather. And I'll not complain that the snowplow awoke me last night and I couldn't go back to sleep for an hour. No, I'll just recall that I spent that hour talking with God and smiling into my pillow.

And I'll be thankful that Tom has today off and won't need to brave our slippery streets or icy sidewalks and hopefully Naomi and Carl will be able to stay inside off the roads, also . Then when we get the lake effect snow which is preparing to blow-in this afternoon, we can hum, "And since there's no place to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow."

We do have to pick our battles. How ridiculous that I fought against winter for years when the battle was really with my attitude. Old Man Winter is just the same as always, but he doesn't seem nearly as fierce or depressing. That's because I have changed. And now there is joy, even in winter, because there is acceptance.


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"In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer." ...Albert Camus

"People don't notice whether it's winter or summer when they're happy."...Anton Chekhov

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