Depending on where you live in the world, winter can be a very, very harsh. In some places on Earth, it’s only known as an occasional light breeze. Nothing more than a frosted peck on the cheek. Sounds rather pleasant, right? If only that were in the case across the globe. For many people, winter is a brutal -40
degrees Celsius for six months of the year.
Regardless of how cold your own individual winter is, it’s always a refreshing feeling when you can finally step outside in a t-shirt and shorts. Kicking your feet up and relaxing out on the porch. If it’s not that warm yet, “sweater weather” is always wonderful too. Think of being hugged very comfortably all day long.
In Canada, the cold winter months can be almost unbearable. The roads are slick with invisible black ice and oftentimes impatient drivers. The traffic jams seemingly go on and on, stretching into a nightmarish eternity. It's very easy to get frustrated when you're sitting there stuck in a rubberneck lineup of
increasingly flustered people.
It's just as easy to get stuck in a rut on an emotional level. When the weather is so aggressively cold with that whipping windchill, it’s tough to have any hope. No one would blame you if you didn't.
We can certainly reach a real low point during the cold season. Where the days seem like they're never going to get any better. Especially when the number of sicknesses tends to increase. You may be in a place right now where it feels like it won’t get any better.
If today was bad, tomorrow still needs to be given its proper due, before you unceremoniously write it off. The sadness may appear like it’s lasting twice as long as it should. Even though it goes on for a supposedly interminable length, winter will always come to an end. Spring will arrive as it always does, on the
heels of a deceptive and deceitful perma-frost.
Once spring’s arrived, the days are noticeably longer. Animals come out of their hibernation in a lot of the same ways we do. After a particularly harsh winter, we’re more likely to get out there. Appreciating the flowers that much more. The sun can feel warmer on our skin. The winter has ended, and hopefully our rut did too. The greater the challenge, the greater the reward.
It’s important to take stock of all that you do have. Spring-time is a great reminder of this. As your surroundings become more and more hospitable, hopefully your mindset will be just as open. By the time you reach summer, you're fully ready to spend those hot, sweat-soaked dog days with friends, family and all manner of loved ones. It's important to remember that you have to take the bad with the good. You can't appreciate the latter without the former. In all things, balance is essential.
Mary-Jane