How Do You Deal with Winter?

We have our daily routines and weekly schedules that make it easy to get caught up in the grind. One amazing thing in the Northeast that breaks it up is having four seasons.  We have an okay spring that includes some nice days between the rainy days, an amazing summer to spend poolside, and the best kind of fall with beautiful foliage. Oh wait, and then there is winter. How do you deal with winter?

If you live in the Northeast, you most likely think winter is a little too long here. It’s cold, icy, and icky. The prettiness of the snow lasts for a day, and then it turns to either an awful muck with salt and dirt, or a sheet of ice that is not enjoyable to navigate. When it’s not snowing, we get to enjoy the bitter cold that keeps us inside for too long. It makes us go stir crazy and cabin feverish.

Sometimes, winter is the worst.

Well, I was reminded recently that winter has a soft spot for us all. Even for us non-skiers.

On a recent flight, I spoke with a pleasant gentleman from Monterey, California. If you know much about Monterey, you know it’s a beautiful city on the California coast. It’s known for delicious seafood and rated as one of the best places to live in California. I spent time enjoying Monterey several years back and I specifically remember it for its moderate weather. Not too cold and not too hot. Unfortunately, it’s been in the news as of late for bad flooding that can occur in the winter, but surely paradise has its flaws too.

It’s usually a perfect place to enjoy mild temperatures all year long. But the thing with that is they don’t get to experience four distinct seasons. Anytime you walk outside all year long, you won’t feel much of a difference in temperature. Or at least nothing like the difference between Summer and Winter in the Northeast.

My new friend from Monterey also spent time in Alaska. I have always wanted to go to Alaska, but I shared that I could never imagine living there in the winter. He shared an insightful benefit of winter. People slow down.

Winter is time for us to slow down just as nature does. It is time to take a pause and immerse ourselves in the quiet, simple natural world around us. As animals hibernate, and the trees are bare, winter is a time for us to rest and recharge.

Winter is a guilt free excuse to slow down. It is a wonderful invitation to give yourself a break. After the extra craziness of the holiday season, we all deserve a chance to catch our breath and just enjoy being. It’s a time to stay inside more and cozy up with family and friends. It’s time to open a new book with new ideas about the world around you.

It is a time to reflect. Use this time to re-examine your life and make sure you are going in the direction you want to go. Take advantage of the quiet of winter. Take advantage of the slowness. If you are not feeling the calm, find ways to create it for yourself. Even just stepping outside may help you find that inner calm to give yourself the space to think.

Winter is a good reminder that life is not a race. However, if we insist on racing through life, we can consider winter our offseason to prepare us for the rest of the year. Just as athletes need time to recuperate and recover in the offseason, we do too. Everyone is entitled to a break. Without that break, we will inevitably burn out from overdoing it. Let yourself have an offseason.

If you are lucky enough to live in an area with temperatures below freezing, you may find yourself inside on the coldest of days longing for sandy hot beaches and BBQs by the pool. And when you have been stuck inside for a little too long, you may ask… How do you deal with winter? You embrace it.

 

Check out some of these great winter quotes to get you through the season!

We want to hear from you! How do you deal with winter? What are you doing to slow down?