Learning to Love Winter

I am one of those people who is always cold.  I LOVE summer because it is when I am the most warm.  Spring and autumn are not too bad, but every fall I absolutely dread winter coming.  I live in Utah where it is winter/cold roughly five months of the year.....that's almost half.  "Why not move somewhere warmer?" you may ask.  Almost all of my family lives here--my parents, sisters, children, grandchildren and friends.  I love our home, our neighborhood and our location, so does my husband.  So this is where we live......but I still always dread winter.  "Dress warmer", you may suggest.  I DO dress warmer.  I wear long underwear in the winter, long sleeves, thick socks, scarves, sweaters and boots.  I still feel cold because the air is cold. 

This fall I got tired of being miserable.  I decided I was going to stop dreading winter.  I was going to find a way to love winter.  There had to be a way.  As the first cold blasts of air started rolling in around the end of October I started looking for what was good about it.  The first thing I noticed was that I was looking forward to drinking hot chocolate.  I love hot chocolate!  Later as I drank my first steaming cup of the season I realized that if it was warm all the time I would never drink hot chocolate.  It's definitely a winter drink. 

As the weather turned colder I got out my heated blanket, my pink fuzzy robe and my thick fuzzy socks.  Then I realized that if I lived where it is hot all the time I would never get the satisfaction of snuggling under a heated blanket and feeling my cold toes warm up.  I would never get to wear my soft fuzzy robe or my thick, soft fuzzy socks.  They definitely feel luxurious and warm.

As November, December and January passed I began to notice other things: the way hot soup tastes going down my throat and warming me from the inside out, the comfort of snuggling under heavy warm blankets, the way a hot bath feels when you soak in the tub (especially with the lights off and a few candles lit), how calming it is to stare into the flames of a fireplace, how beautiful the snow looks.  (Christmas just wouldn't be the same without snow.....and being cold).  I love the way fresh snow glistens in the sun, and the way snow can transform the landscape into a breathtaking winter wonderland.  I realized that I even like the exercise of shoveling snow, and especially how rewarding it looks once it is all piled up around the cleaned off driveway and sidewalks.  I like the way the house feels all warm inside, a fragrant winter candle burning while watching the birds pecking around outside the window.  It feels cozy and safe.  It's a winter feeling.

In the end (to my amusement) what I realized is that what has really been happening all these years is that I have focused on what I do not like, and noticed it, instead of focusing on what I do like, and appreciating it.  Since I have started appreciating winter this year, it has been much more enjoyable! 

Then it hit me: This wonderfully simple idea can be applied to anything unpleasant - a job you don't like, a commute that is difficult, a chaotic household or a too-quiet household, being married, being single, having kids, not having kids....whatever your circumstance.  Look for what you like about your situation. Then keep looking.  You might be amazed by what you find.

Sometime I Block the Sun

It is a fact that the sun greatly benefits us.    The sun helps our bodies produce vitamin D, which is important to strong bone growth.  It prompts our brains to promote higher levels of serotonin, which helps prevent depression (among other things).  According to online research  "Without the Sun's heat and light, the Earth would be a lifeless ball of ice-coated rock. The Sun warms our seas, stirs our atmosphere, generates our weather patterns, and gives energy to the growing green plants that provide the food and oxygen for life on Earth." 

The sun is vital to our existence. 

Lately I have noticed that sometimes I block the sun.  I find myself driving with my sunglasses on when the sun is not even out!  Sometimes I put my car visor down when the sun is not even shining in my eyes.  I tend to forget to open the sun roof and let the sunshine in.  I know some people who keep the blinds in their homes closed all the time instead of letting the sunlight in.  Last week I saw a woman at a department store with her sunglasses on inside the store, and it was dark outside.  Of course, she may have had a good reason, like she had been to the eye doctor that day, or she was hiding a black eye or something, but it still looked funny, and reminded me of blocking the sun. 

As I was thinking about this I realized that sometimes I not only block the sun, but the SON, our eternal light.  There are times when I unintentionally block the Son of God, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ from my life. His light helps our spiritual side grow and become strong.  His light helps us fight through many difficult situations.  His light is vital to our spiritual existence in ways too numerous to number here.  When I keep my spiritual blinds closed, or close my spiritual sun roof so the Son doesn't shine on me, or put my visor down, or keep my spiritual sunglasses on when they are not needed, I spiritually block the Son. 

As I pondered about what specific things I do to shut the Savior out of my life, I realized that when I forget to pray.....or I pray but forget to be present and forget to listen, or when I fail to follow promptings, or when I decide I can do something on my own not realizing I need his amazing light to show me the way, these are ways I block the Son. 
                                                               Why would I do that? 
Why would I block something that does good in my life, a source of inspiration and light and                                                                                   strength? 

I think I tend to unintentionally take the Son for granted.  I forget to pay close attention and I forget to appreciate, just like when I am wearing my sunglasses after the sun has disappeared behind the clouds.

I don't want to take the wonderful sun for granted, but even more I don't want to take for granted the beautiful light that the Son offers me.

The Parts I've Lost

This is my gorgeous hanging planter before and after the first freeze of the fall.  As you can see, the cold caused a part of my planter enough stress that it wilted.   If you look closely, you will notice that part of the plant is wilted, but a large part of the plant still looks great and is doing well.

I must confess that I feel exactly like this frost-touched planter right now.  But instead of cold weather to affect me, it was that darned carbon monoxide accident, lol!  Most of me is holding up great and doing well, but I have these strange and unexpected parts that I cannot deny have wilted.  In particular:

♥My desire to garden and work in my yard, a passion and joy of mine for years. (This year I felt like I was in slow motion watching the seasons go by, first hyacinths, then daffodils, then tulips, then clematis, then roses, then rose of Sharon, then chrysanthemums.  Instead of a beautifully manicured yard, I mostly grew weeds.  That has never happened before.)

♥My desire to cook and try new recipes.  (I find I can hardly make myself think about what to make for dinner every night, and the simpler and easier the better.)

♥My desire to write. (Before my carbon monoxide accident I had so many ideas of what to write about on my blog each week that I had to keep a running list so I wouldn't forget my ideas.  Currently I have an occasional idea, and it takes me forever to get up the mental energy to sit down and write about it.  I tend to abandon my ideas part-way through writing, or not finish the blog.)

♥And lastly is my enthusiasm for goal setting and accomplishing.   I didn't do any for months after the accident, and now I have only one or two.  The intensity and drive I had before are currently MIA.

As I write this it occurs to me that the parts of me that are wilted ALL have to do with creativity - creating a beautiful yard, creating fun new meals, creative writing, and creating a better life through personal improvement.  The part of me that has wilted is creativity, and I want it back!  How can a carbon monoxide accident do that?  In researching, I can find nothing about this side effect at all.  Yet here it is.

My experience as a nurse tells me that whatever improvement a patient is able to make in the first year after any kind of accident is most likely what they will permanently have, though there are exceptions of course.  It has been 6 months.  I do desperately want these parts of myself to return and thrive as they did before.

Recently I re-did the planter by my front door with new plants for the spring.   The old ones had wilted.  (It took a lot of mental energy just to make myself do that)  I am hoping to revive the wilted parts of myself, to nurture them and coax them back to health, but if not perhaps something new can grow in its place.  Only time will tell.

Lightening Those Burdens Before You Break

We have two peach trees in our yard.  Years ago when I was new to having fruit trees and growing fruit I neglected to thin my peaches when they were little.  One day when the peaches were almost ready to harvest I went outside to find that a major branch had broken off, taking with it a large number of peaches.  It was a devastating loss, and the tree has never completely recovered on that side where the branch broke.

Ever since then I thin my peaches, and when the peaches grow large, just before they are ready to harvest, I walk around and prop up any branches that might look heavily weighed down.  My husband made these wonderful branch supports out of wood specifically for this purpose.  They give the tree support so it can bear the weight of the heavy fruit without the branches breaking.

At times in my life I have felt like my peach trees in the fall, heavily weighed down and feeling like some of the branches of my life may break under the weight.  In order to prevent this from happening, I have learned the hard way to get some support.  Not being a tree, the wooden kind of support would be of no use, lol!  Humans need a completely different kind of support when life feels heavy!

What kind of support does a human need when life feels heavy and we fear we may not be able to bear the weight of our burdens?  I have had to actually reason this out in my mind and then actively seek the support I needed.  For me this came in 3 forms.  First was the support that came from sharing.  Somehow telling the right person about the burden, someone who is willing to listen and seek to understand, helps lighten the load.  Pick this support carefully.  You don't want to unload and have someone else carrying your burden.  A good support person knows how to listen and is able to do so without taking on your weight themselves.  Miraculous how this works!  And so I found the right one or two people to share my weighted life with.  It lightened my load.

Another form of support that has worked well for me is turning to my higher power.  When I do this, when I tell all my worries and burdens to my higher power and then sit still and listen and feel, burdens can be lifted and replaced by great peace.  That is a promise.  There is no better support.

My third and final form of support was to write.  Sometimes journaling is an excellent support.  Another form of writing is what I call "write and burn".  It gets that negative, stressed, worried energy out of your body and onto the paper.  I chose to write everything that was hard.  When I had written all that I could think of, I took the paper outside, read it out loud so the energy went out into the air, then crumpled up the paper and burned it in a pie tin.  As I watched that paper burning I envisioned my worries evaporating with the smoke from the flames.  When nothing was left but ashes I imagined the same was true of my burdens.  This unusual tool works wonders!

Three forms of support! I cannot change my situation, but I can change how I feel about it, whether or not I am weighed down by it, and what I do about it.  I can take steps to keep from breaking under the weight.

Is there something in your life that is weighing heavily upon you?  What is so heavy that you worry you will break?  Be honest with yourself about what you need.  Do not sit there and hope someone will come to support you.  You must actively work to put supports in place for yourself, whether it be seeking out a safe support person, talking to your higher power, getting your feelings out on paper, journaling, or some other way, get the positive support you need.  It will make a huge difference.
The weight of the burden is lifted.  The support makes the weight bearable, which makes all the difference!

I Know Why I'm Here, Do You?

Last week I shared with you that I had finally figured out why I am here and how I am to be changed by my brush with death in April.  I promised to share that answer with you this week.  As I do, please keep in mind that this answer is tailored for me.  Each of our answers to this same question might be different, just as we are all different and unique.  I am simply sharing with you my friends, in hopes of inspiring you to find your own answers to these questions:

"Why am I here?" 
"How should my life be different going forward?"

As I told you in my last blog, my answer came suddenly and unexpectedly after weeks of searching and asking.  I will tell you up front that my answer is not an all-inclusive map for the rest of my life, simply an answer at the moment of what I need to do, and how to spend my energy.   And so I share what is deep in my heart.  Here goes:

I am still here because......God wants me to learn more, grow more, teach more, be a light to others, be a help to others.  Basically be a drop in the bucket to make the world a better place.

How am I to be different because of my experience? Perhaps I can answer this best by describing my perspective shift.  I used to get up in the morning with a list of things I needed to do that day.  Then I would pray and ask God what did he want me to do that day?  It was my day, but I was willing to do something for God during it. I would add it to my list, and work to accomplish everything on my list for that day.  I almost never got it all done, and sometimes the thing I felt prompted about didn't happen either.

Now I get up in the morning and realize it is a gift just to be here and alive, a gift God did not have to give me.  My day is His, not my own.  I pray and ask Him how He would like me to use the gift he has given me today.  I listen closely and intently for direction.  I write it down.  I make it my top priority, even if it is something that will be done later in the day.  It is my main objective.  I then fill in with the everyday things that we all do to keep life moving along. 

In the past my day used to be about accomplishing tasks.  Now my day is about doing whatever God prompts me to do, and it is so much more meaningful. Contrast this last Monday for example.  What felt meaningful to do was take my son to lunch, spend time listening to another child, and get direction about what to teach at a rehab center.  Contrast that with times past where my main goals for a Monday would have been to do laundry, mow the lawn, and figure out meals for the week.  What is more meaningful at the end of the day?  I want no regrets.  Do I still have to do laundry, mow, and figure out menus?  Of course!  But they are not the focus of my day that gives my life meaning.  Building relationships, meeting needs, being a light to whomever I can - these are the new focus of my day that gives my life meaning.

If you are asking yourself these same questions, and looking for meaning in your life - spend some time looking for the answers.  Sometimes it takes a while to get them, but be persistent.  You don't need to almost lose your life to wake up and do something more meaningful.  Learn from my experience and find that greater joy now.  The answers are inside of you.  Like I shared last week, you can coax them out, you just have to want it bad enough to spend the energy hunting.

How Answers Come

Answers to questions we are searching for in our lives come in many different forms and in a variety of timetables.  Some answers come through meditation and pondering, some through research, some through prayer, or a combination of these.  Sometimes answers come quickly.  Others take years.

Since my carbon monoxide accident in April I have been searching for the answer to the question of "why am I still here?".  I wrote in one of my recent blogs that "All the thoughts and emotions inside of me are like a large pile of tangled yarn in front of me that I feel compelled to unravel, as though I can't really do anything else until that is sorted out."  In my mind I have been trying to untangle this pile of yarn that is  my life for the past nine weeks.  I have been trying to figure out how my life is to be different because of this experience, for truly all experiences change us in one way or the other.  As I was walking with a friend on Friday we were talking about my experience.  She asked me if I had figured out why I am still here and how I am changed.  As I began to talk, the answer came to me.  So strange!  Would you believe that I did not know the answer until I said it?  I have been pondering on this for weeks, and suddenly, in the moment, the answer comes.  It was as though my brain had the answer all along, but didn't reveal it until I opened my mouth and let it out.  In an instant what my subconscious brain knew became public knowledge to my consciousness!  I have had this happen before, but not in such a dramatic way.

You have probably heard the idea that all the answers to everything we ever need are within us.  This thought is taught by many of the great thinkers of our time, as well as times past.  I believe it, and yet I had not experienced it, at least not in such a stark way.  Life coaches and therapists are excellent examples of this theory.  They listen to their clients, and ask questions, but do not provide solutions or answers.  They help their clients coach the answers out from inside themselves.  How is this possible?  I don't know.  I just know that it is.   Meditation and pondering, and prayer to a higher power are major ways to coach answers from inside us to become public to our own consciousness.  Talking through the dilemmas and questions in our lives is another way.

What questions are you seeking in your life right now?  Do you believe the answer lies within you, or that your higher power will lead you to it?  There is no need to trust me or anyone else, but simply put it to the test.  Try one of the following:

-Pray and ask for direction, then be quiet and listen not with your ears but with your heart and soul.  Keep a paper and pen close by to write down any thoughts that come.

-Meditate.  This may involve a prayer to start it, then sitting in a relaxed position with eyes closed and mind clear of all but the question.  Keep a paper and pen close by to write down any thoughts that come.

-Pondering.  Pondering is different than meditating in that instead of clearing your mind except for a single thought you are actively thinking about your question and possible solutions, like trying to solve a puzzle.  Keep a paper and pen close by to write down any thought that come.

 - Talking it out.  This can be with another person, or even just with yourself.  I have a friend who literally thinks out loud, often as she is walking around outside her house.  This does not look as strange as it used to since blue tooth earpieces have been invented, lol!  She is actually able to get a lot of clarity and direction by talking out loud.  If you know someone who is a good listener, spending time talking with them can be a great way to find answers.  Keep a paper and pen close by to write down any thoughts that come.

Whatever way you choose to search for answers to your question, know that given time and patience,  answers will come.  They may come by inspiration, pondering, meditating or talking, but they will come.  You just have to be willing to hunt for them.

p.s.  Stay tuned for my next blog to find out WHY I am still here and HOW my life is to be different.

Resilience

Have you ever noticed that the pansy flower is one of the very few flowers that you can plant in the fall and it will live throughout the winter and bloom in the spring and into the summer.  The flower itself looks very fragile and delicate yet it can weather the harsh and cold winter like almost no other annual flower can.

Last year I planted pansies in a planter by my front door.  I had not planted them in the fall before, and because they were close by I watched what they did throughout the winter and into the warm season.

I noticed that the flowers did not grow in the winter, but neither did they freeze and die.  They kept their heads bent, stayed low to the ground and waited out the winter.  When spring came they put their little heads up and began to grow and thrive again.  And what came was beautiful!

I have been thinking about how we are like these wonderful plants that can withstand so much.

When I had my near-fatal carbon monoxide accident 2 months ago today I was so glad to survive.  Strangely though, the experience put me into a winter of sorts.  I felt stopped in my tracks, as though I needed to just hunker down and survive.  I stopped working on goals, stopped reading, stopped blogging, stopped doing things I normally love.  I stopped growing.  I needed to just put my head down, survive, and live through the storm of physical and emotional winter that had hit my life.

Now I feel like it is beginning to be spring again.  I feel like I am starting to put my head up, feel the sun's warmth again, and start growing and blooming into who I am supposed to be again.

We all have times in our lives when everything is warm and sunny as well as times when it feels like the dark cold of winter, and it is all we can do to hunker down and weather life's harsh cold storms.

Remember that the spring always comes again sooner or later to warm up our lives and help us bloom into what we are intended to be.  Keeping that hope alive during the winters in our lives makes all the difference.  Spring will come.  It always does eventually.