Grace in the Cold

I always get antsy this time of year.  Christmas and the bustle and magic of the holidays are over.  There are a few exciting football games left, but even those will be over soon.  And we're still knee deep in winter, spring still too far away to get excited about.

I get super whiny when it's cold.  Super whiny.  I feel like my hands are always freezing and I would much rather sit under a blanket in my heat than bundle everyone up and head out.  I eat way more in the winter and workouts are harder to get motivated for.  The grief we have been dealing with over the past year seems to engulf me at more regular intervals now.  I suffer from insomnia much more frequently than when it's warm out.  I absolutely believe I have a touch of seasonal depression every year.  Indoor tanning used to help {judge away} but I know the dangers and don't do that any more.  I long to just pack up my family and drive south until I hit the much warmer temps of Florida. 

But this year I'm trying to change some of my reaction to the cold and miserable winter.  I have to reign in my need to fly south as it's just not possible for our family right now {though the countdown to Disney in June helps!}.  I'm learning about the grace and beauty of being still, being in the moment, of handling what we have been dealt in the right now.  I'm trying to see this time more as a blessing than a curse.

With below freezing temps, we are house-bound a lot.  I've started to use that time to really clean out, purge, scale back.  I am constantly thinking of ways we could re-purpose this, or better store that.  I'm using the time indoors to keep the house a little cleaner and try to stay on top of the laundry.  I'm meal planning more and coming up with some more creative recipes rather than ordering in.  I get lazy in the winter and prefer to just pick up the phone and order a pizza.  But I'm reminding myself that I really do love cooking and the joy it brings me to make a nice meal for my family.

I'm challenging my will and motivation by making sure I work out and eat better.  After all, it is true what they say, summer bodies are made in the winter.  There is also no better medicine for my mind and getting out of a funk, than working out.  I am definitely a better person on days I get to the gym.

The cold winds are also giving me more time to focus on time with my girls.  In this house, we already spend a great deal of time snuggling, playing, learning together.  But when it's warm out, the girls yearn to take it outside, running free, exploring more by themselves.  It has been nice that everyone has been forced to be home a lot more {I have loved all the snow days!} spending most of our days crammed into our downstairs.  I also love that this house bound-ness is pushing me to be more creative.  I've had to really rack my brain to come up with new things to keep the girls busy.  It's been a nice challenge.

Most years, I simply loathe the winter and try and get through it as quickly as possible, complaining all the way.  This year, I'm trying...key word trying...to find some grace in the dark and cold.  If only for my own happiness and sanity. 

But man, I still can't wait for summer.