Sunday, December 31, 2017

Cold is for the Bold

As 2017 winds down, winter has barely started, and I’m ready for spring.

With the cold weather and sub-zero wind chills lately, I’ve had to psych myself up every time I head out the door to walk the dog. When my husband asked, “What do you want for Christmas?” the only thing I could think of was an N-Ferno hood like he bought for himself last year.

Now, I dress as if I’m going on a polar expedition every time I walk out the door. As with everything, it seems, there is an upside and downside to the new hood. The cold doesn’t make my face hurt anymore, but my glasses fog up and I have to remove them. As nearsighted as I am, that means I can’t see much. Still, the hood makes me feel like a Ninja warrior battling the cold.

The best defense against the cold is layering. I bought a pair of fleece-lined sweatpants, but they didn’t stop the cold until I wore my Cuddle Duds beneath them.

This New Year’s Eve, not only our bodies are layered against the cold, our souls and hearts are layered to shield us from hurt and disappointments. In order to overcome the challenges we face on a daily basis, we have to pile on layers of accomplishment. To defeat sadness, we need to find joy. To defend ourselves against the darkness, we need to seek out light.

As we reflect on the dying year, we can focus on the bad or sad times, or we can laser our thoughts on the good times. The same could be said for the past years. A lifetime of years.

For some reason this morning, I found myself dwelling on my failures and missteps. As I thought about the times I made stupid mistakes, I found myself sinking into a place I didn’t want to be. Then, I went on with my day—breakfast, laundry, walking the dog—those little daily obligations that are there to be done again and again. There’s nothing permanent to be gained or lost.

As I worked on Jim’s memoir Indelible, I found myself laughing and crying as I relived that period of my life. The thing is that life is cyclical. Maybe, roller coaster might be a better description. High highs, low lows, sudden drops, heart-stopping curves, and the moment of quiet and relief when one ride ends and before the next one begins.

Tomorrow begins a new year. I’ve never been much of one for making resolutions because I never saw a resolution that I couldn’t break within a few days. Instead, I’m looking at more of an overview.

Over the past several months, I’ve been paring down my outside obligations. This is a real effort on my part to free up more of my time to tend to matters important to me.

One thing for sure, 2018 is going to have a cold, cold start. So tomorrow when I don my Ninja hood, I’ll battle the cold and face the new year with boldness and optimism. After all, the hood keeps the wind from hurting my face, and spring will be only 77 days away.

Copyright © December 2017 by L.S. Fisher

#ENDALZ 

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