5 Things to Love about Fall & Winter

Some Thoughts for People who Don’t Love Fall and Winter

This definitely isn’t an article about pumpkin spice lattes (which I don’t like, much less love). Instead, it’s an honest look at 5 things I do really love about fall and winter, with some serious soul-searching about choosing to look for the things we love in every season.

I’m a summer girl. I won’t even pretend that I like being cold. Or that I don’t quake in my Converse at the thought of driving on slippery roads. Anyone that knows me knows that when the temperature even thinks of dropping below 70, a chill sets into my bones that leaves me pallid and shivering until summer makes it way ‘round again.

But as time marches right into the next season, and so many people are discussing the dread and depression that comes with shorter days and looming holidays, my heart saddens.

Because as much as I really don’t like winter, if I’m honest, I have learned to choose to like a lot of things about the colder seasons:

Here are my 5 things…

Big Sweaters & Fuzzy Socks

Because comfort is life. (And holidays mean lots of comfort food, so yay to over-sized sweaters!)

Comfort makes me think of restfulness. When we are comfortable, we can rest.

I bet most of us don’t get enough rest. We might take some notes from the animals that do a little hibernating or settling in over the winter months and use the shorter, colder days as opportunities for restfulness.

Family game night. Netflix binge in pajamas. Christmas movies and hot chocolate. Any movie and lots of popcorn. Read a book. Read another book. Read a book to a child. Read a book to an elderly person at a nursing home…

Sleep.

Instead of putting more things on your ‘to do’ list, take a few things off. Put on your fuzzy socks and flannel pjs and get some sleep.

Because health problems, anxiety, and stress are rampant, and never more so than this time of year. Make self-care a priority. It’s not selfish to want to be healthy.

The Leaves

Yes, everyone says it, but I’m afraid for those of us that see this phenomenon every year, it has lost its awe factor. So, if you have the chance, really look at the trees with their multi-colored fall foliage this year. Take in their BEAUTY. Not as the signaling of winter or losing something or fodder for a melancholy meme, but just marvel a little at nature. Just for the sake of nature.

Take a drive. Gather up some friends and make an event of it, with coffee or apple cider (yes, I’m getting all basic and sappy with that suggestion) or your favorite music…it doesn’t matter, just enjoy unplugging and the company of friends and the beauty of nature.

The season is short, and if you blink, you’ll miss it. When it comes to life, don’t blink.

Snow

I’m terrified to drive in it. I wish I was exaggerating. But seriously, a flake meanders from the heavens and I wring my hands in dread at the prospect of getting myself to work or anywhere for that matter. It’s simultaneously ridiculous and depressing.

BUT, I love to watch it snow. I don’t know what is more beautiful than the sight of falling snow, or the landscape blanketed in shimmering white. There’s something truly magical if you look for the magic.

In life, if you look for the negative, you’ll find it. If you look for the beauty, you’ll find that. There’s a lot to be said for choosing what you look for.

Christmas

Oh, my…Christmas. This one stirs a lot of emotion. I regret that I recently went so far as to say I’d be willing to skip the holiday. And I meant it. How could I say such a thing? I used to LOVE Christmas. I still love buying gifts for other people. I still love Christmas lights. I still love the holiday spirit that shows up sometimes even in unlikely places.

What I hear most from other people though, is a dread of Christmas. When did we stop loving Christmas? We can talk about the true meaning all we want but to be honest, it doesn’t seem to console people anymore. Which makes me wonder if we have become so embroiled in the traditions and busyness that we can’t rest in the beautiful story that makes Christmas all the best of things.

Maybe we need to reset our traditions, reset our focus, reset the things that make us happy, reset our expectations, and focus on the birthday boy instead of the birthday party. Not everyone will like it. And not everyone has to. It’s not about them – or you. Eliminate the pressure to make the holidays perfect for everyone – and yourself.

Do something this year that reminds you how much you love Christmas and eliminate something this year that makes you dread the holidays.

You can still throw the party – just throw it for Jesus instead of the Joneses.

Spring

How is ‘spring’ on my list of things I love most about the colder seasons of fall and winter? I’m glad you asked!

I have decided that the reason I love spring SO VERY MUCH is that it is a breath of fresh air, a warm breeze, a tree frog chorus, and a robin’s melody that makes my soul SOAR because I’ve waited all fall and winter to see it arrive. And it reminds me of the newness of all my days, through every season, and how much I can be thankful and blessed and grateful that God’s mercies are new every morning, and that each day, whether I’m shivering or blissfully baking in the sun, I have so many beautiful things to look around and see. If I will only look.

The bright green of spring always makes me feel all sorts of ways, and I know that if I looked at that hue every day, I would become accustomed to it and it would lose its brilliance.

Also, I would lose the anticipation.

We humans tend to be impatient. We want what we want when we want it. Fast food, fast loans, fast cars, fast internet, fast, fast, fast…

But I know enough to know that if I always got what I wanted, as fast as I wanted it, I’d be a spoiled brat mess and I wouldn’t know how to APPRECIATE anything and I wouldn’t know how to be PATIENT and ultimately, I wouldn’t know a good thing when I saw it.  As a mother, I know how important those lessons are for children. Sometimes we forget they are good lessons for all of us.

Spring never loses its appeal to me because I wait each year with joyful anticipation the unfurling of each green leaf and seedling, each bird song as they return from the south, each nightly chorus of bugs and frogs.

Spring is made more beautiful because of winter.

Life Seasons

There are seasons, literally and figuratively, in your life. Some are your favorites – they make you happy and content and thankful. Some are hard – they are times of struggle, grief, pain, and frustration.

But here’s a thought: none are absolute and none last forever.

There are beautiful moments in the valley and tough moments on the mountaintops. A whole lot of your joy will depend on your perspective.

There will be many things in your life that you can’t control, but how you respond and what you choose to do during those times are up to you.

Put on your fuzzy socks and jump into your life – there’s not going to be a do-over. And remember, if the season isn’t to your liking, spring will inevitably roll around again, if you’re patient and courageous enough to keep looking for it. In the meantime, marvel at the intricacy of a snowflake.

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