How is Your Winter Season and a Wellbeing Check In
If you are at all interested in the Wellbeing30 Challenge I set myself up for, and maybe tried to recruit you or guilt you into joining, then here is a little check in. So far so good.
I’ve made it through dinner with friends, a Mexican dinner with what looked like quite refreshing margaritas, a birthday dinner where a beautiful plate of delicious cupcakes was passed right under my nose, and a cocktail party where I really didn’t feel tempted.
I’ve gotten in the two workouts a day, including my daily outdoor walks even in yucky weather (and feeling so glad I got out afterwards). I’ll have to tell you, though, that a couple of times the other workout, (or better word would be movement) since it was basically 30 minutes of a mobility, stretching movement sort of thing done in loungewear or pajamas before jumping into the shower before work. (but it counts!) My reading has been consistent and, I think, a big boost to getting into bed earlier and to better sleep. Little extra acts of kindness have included extra tips, compliments, and going out of my way to get those darn stray grocery carts, and a few other things. All in all it’s been good. I think, personally, it’s been easier to do the “no alcohol” “no sugar’ thing while I’m with others. That is where accountability comes in and, for me, is huge. I have to be more thoughtful and intentional during an evening or weekend at home.
I actually think the winter is a good time of year to do a challenge like this. I’ve talked about my dislike of winter in the past. I’ve moaned about how the winter is my LEAST favorite season of the year. How I hate the cold, the shorter days, the bad weather, and did I mention the cold?
Something changed in me this year. I have decided to embrace winter. In fact, the other night I was with a friend and she calls Winter the “Season of Death”. I said, No way. I am reframing winter. It is the time to hibernate, savor comfort and get cozy in the evenings. I confess that sometimes I’m in my PJs at a ridiculously early hour, and it makes me SO happy. I have a ritual of making a big pot of vegetable soup on Sundays. It makes my house smell wonderful and I have something simple and delicious all week long. I hunker down with my dogs, a fire and a good book. It’s the perfect time to also do some “nothing”. Think, rest, plan, daydream and think some more. Wrapping up and getting outside isn’t as horrible as I make it in my head.
This is the season we all may want to skip over. It’s cold, dreary and dark and not full of fun, like Spring, Summer and Fall. It can seem long and hard. As I’ve grown older and seen a bit more of life, I see that Winter makes us sit and rest and slow down. If we didn’t have this winter season of the year, or a winter season of life, then we might never have the opportunity to get cozy, and sit (in front of a fire) and rest, think, and learn to just be.
Winter is the time to take all the energy we have stored up, the dreams that need sorting, the inside projects we have put off, and make an attempt to appreciate this time. It’s the planning and planting time. Basically, if not now, when?
I have loved this reframe for Winter. I am reading more books, writing, not worrying about missing out on anything, and simply embracing this time of year. There is no other time of the year that I can get into my PJs at 6 pm and not feel the least bit guilty. Savoring these few weeks to hunker down. Be inside my home, and also take the time to do some of my own “inside work”. Choosing to be more ‘unbusy” and embrace the quiet.
While I am talking about the Winter Season as in this time of year, it also all holds true for our own “winter seasons” of life. They will come, and in those seasons, the time of quiet and simply being, can also be the time for the beginnings of renewing and the start of growth. There are times when we will need winter seasons, for our soul, for our wellbeing, and for our heart, to learn to heal and process and to take the first steps to move forward.
I love looking at winter in a new way, as a season to savor and not to simply rush through. Good things can happen in the hibernation and in the cold, short season. It doesn’t have to be the dark and dreary period or the “season of death” as my friend calls it.
