Here in Minnesota we’ve had an intense winter, and it’s not
over. This afternoon the snow came down in a thick blanket. Recently, the
Minneapolis newspaper published an article entitled “Worst. Winter. Ever.” The next day, a clever letter to the editor
pointed out that if one likes snow and cold, this year has been amazing. Fifty nights below zero. Sixty-one inches of
snow. “Best. Winter. Ever.” he wrote.
It all comes down to perspective. I’ve never found it useful or interesting to
complain about weather. I’m never served by resisting, complaining, or working myself
into a lather about something I can do nothing about. I know I do have an effect
on my world—the choices I make affect climate in the end. However, knowing I
have an impact and influencing something immediately are not the same. When I’m upset about weather or traffic, a
plane’s delay or a person’s response, I’m actually cut off from the very thing
that can have a positive impact. Namely,
my positive attitude.
If I’m in a funk, that’s not the time I can improve a
situation. The old sayings “do no harm”
or “if you haven’t got anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all” come to
mind. Once I’ve regained equilibrium and
good cheer, I may in fact be able to help. But not before then.
Being powerless over something can lead to frustration or a renewed
sense of humility. My choice. I know which choice feels better, and every time
I choose to remain calm, ask for help, focus on the positive, see the humor, I strengthen
that ability for a time when it will be essential that I remain calm so that I can
be useful.
Perhaps those little irritations are precisely the workout
my spiritual condition needs to get into shape for whatever is around the
corner. And even if life goes smoothly forever after, reaching for the wonder
of a snowy day just before April feels much better than the alternative.
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