Embrace the Snow...and the Cold

Every single winter I threaten to move away.  Move somewhere warm, with beaches, beautiful men, cocktails and palm trees.  Yet for over thirty years here I am, in the greater Chicagoland area.  Instead of a being in a land where Rafael Solano makes me a margarita while I lay in the warmth of the Miami sun…I am here (Rafael Solano: character on perhaps the best show ever written, Jane the Virgin.  If you don't know, now you know - and you should really know)!  For anyone that does not live in the same kind of climate as I do, let me introduce you to a concept - wind chill.  Wind chill is the temperature that it feels like, not the actual temperature.  For example, currently it is 11 degrees (yes, Fahrenheit), but because of the wind it feels like –4 degrees (yes, that is a negative sign, as in below zero degrees).  Instead of feeling like 11 degrees, which it is, it feels like negative 4 degrees below zero.  I am not great at math, but that is a 15 degree difference.  Those of you that may be in a warmer climate may have a hard time appreciating the difference.  You are probably thinking cold is cold, right?  What is the difference at that point?  Excellent question and sadly, I wish I didn't know, but I do know the answer.  The answer is that there is a big difference.  You can most definitely feel the difference in wind chill, especially when there is a fifteen degree difference from the actual temperature. 

Sounds awful, right?  Yes it is.  Wind chill, is like a swear word, both wind chill and wintry mix.  Both of these terms come out of the mouth of our lovely meteorologists and I just want to pop them in the jaw.  Wintry mix is an actual term, it is some foul combination of rain, freezing rain, sleet or snow. Sounds like a good time, huh?  For those of you in warmer climate, you may wonder, how do we survive or function in such conditions? Another excellent question.  Businesses and schools only get shut down if the actual temperature is really low.  By really low, I mean below negative 20 degrees or so, which generally means the wind chill is going to be in about the negative 30's or 40's at that point.  For snow, they will close only if there is a legit blizzard or in excess of about 12 inches that fall in the same storm, but even then it depends on the time frame the storm lasts.  Very technical, right?  Well not really, it is kind of a guessing game when it comes to the perimeters for which they will call school closings.  Businesses; however, really do not close, the school administrations seem to care about the children enough to allow them to stay home in adverse conditions.  Adults, on the other hand, must move ahead in the name of capitalism.  It is Chicago, we are supposed to deal with the weather because it is our climate and we must forge ahead.  This particular winter is supposed to be extra awful.  At the time I am writing this in mid-December 2016, we have already had 3 measurable snow falls, which were all snow storms by the way, and we have also had multiple negative temperature days (which lead to very negative wind chills).  Some schools have had closures already, which normally does not happen in any months other than January and February (for those of you that don't know, now you know).

Bleak, or is it?  I have decided to embrace the snow...and the cold.  Why?!  Excellent question again!  Is it because, well, it is going to be a long, cold, snowy winter?  In part yes, but there is more to it than inevitable duration.  I am working on being content, which is another word that I feel should be a swear word.  "Content (adjective): 1. satisfied with what one is or has, not wanting more or anything else" (Dictionary.com).  I feel the word contentment is overused and under emphasized in true meaning.  However, that is in fact what my goals is, to be content in whatever circumstance I find myself.  Snow and cold are included, so it is my desire and intention to embrace the snow and the cold.  Embrace it not because I like it, not because I enjoy it, not because I would not rather be elsewhere geographical or just that I would rather it be summer already.  I am embracing the snow and cold because I want to be content in whatever circumstance I find myself.  No matter what my circumstance, I want to live abundantly, not in constant desire for the next stage to begin.  Being content does not mean being fully fine with the way things are, but being satisfied to the point that if nothing were to change, I could live a fully abundant life, without want.  Settling is not what I am talking about, that is different from contentment.  Settling is giving up, contentment is finding joy in our current circumstances.  We should all have goals and ambitions and strive for them, but we should not live in a future state of being.  So often we need to be able to appreciate, survive and thrive where we are before we can handle what the next season of life brings. 

Trust and believe, I know a new season will come!  Spring sounds like such a glorious season right now, as I am currently existing in negative wind chills.  Spring has warmer weather, flowers, bright colors, but spring also has rain storms, tornadoes and floods.  On this earth, we will always experience the good and bad in any season we find ourselves.  We will prefer some seasons over others of course, but none of them are without struggle.  Those of us that experience a solid four seasons climatically in a year, understand that change is inevitable, but it is also coveted.  Some people really do love the winter, some love the spring, summer or fall.  Yet the person standing next to them may prefer a different season entirely.  We cannot live in every season constantly waiting for next season to begin or dreading the next season that is going to come upon us.  Our lives happen in every moment and if we are blessed to be around for the next season, we will be grateful we had to go through the last season.  If we were constantly in our favorite season in life, we would miss so much.  We would miss so many opportunities for growth and change in ourselves, but also in others.  Where we are in a particular season can influence and encourage others in a powerful way.  The season we are in is not all about us.

So I am choosing to embrace the snow...and the cold because I know that I need to appreciate this season to prepare me for the next season.  Frankly, I am at a place in life where I prefer to appreciate and grow in the place where I am right now than constantly be waiting for the next season. So I am choosing to embrace the snow…and the cold.

Philippians 4:11-13 (NASB) “Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.  I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”