Life Moves Pretty Fast, If You Don't Stop and Look, You Might Miss It

 

Cuyahoga River, from the Oxbow trail overlook | Summit Metroparks

Winter has been a weird one so far in Northeast Ohio. It's been cold, it's been 65 and sunny, it's snowed, rained, and everything in between. The full-on freezer treatment has arrived this week! Cold temps and lake effect snow warnings dominate the local news cycle, and my Facebook feed is filled with "winter sucks" and "how many days until spring?" posts. I found myself reading those posts and thinking, "noooo, don't wish it away", which got me thinking... Why do I love winter so much, while so many hate this time of year? 

Can you spot the bald eagles?

Being a skier certainly helps. The first cool nights of fall, when we see our breath taking the trash down for the first time, bring a twinge of excitement and anticipation. We'll be clicking in and ripping with our friends soon! However, skiing is not the only reason I get hyped up when the fluffy flakes start falling.

The Oxbow, without some cornball blocking the view | Summit Metroparks

Scraping off the windshield, stepping in a slushy puddle, or enduring a longer commute in crummy weather all suck. There's no denying those facts! But have you ever sat quietly in the woods, drinking a beer and listening to the sound of the snowflakes landing? Heard the bald eagles chatting with each other over the gurgle of the not-yet frozen river? Seen a bright red cardinal, perched in a snow-covered hemlock, the colors seemingly unreal against the monotone landscape? It's magical. 

Woods beers are the best beers

What makes a snowy day magical? It's fleeting. The snow is here, and then it's gone, never to be the same again. The next time it snows, it won't look like it does today. Listen to Ferris, "life moves pretty fast, if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you might miss it."

In case you didn't find em in the first one

"So, how does any of your slightly frozen rambling (I just got back from my walk in the woods) help me hate my commute to work any less", you ask? Honestly, I don't know. I do know that shifting our mindset, learning to see beauty in things that appear to be a pain in the butt on their surface, can bring more joy into our lives. In the end, isn't that what we are all here for, to experience joy and be happy?

The view downstream from the Overlook

This little parable about a winter walk in the woods can be a metaphor for our lives. So much of what we do feels like a grind. That's not what life is about! There's joy to be found in most of the stuff we do every day. OK, maybe there's no joy in replacing the wax ring on a toilet...but there is in the people we work with, the tasks we accomplish, or the things we do to help others. Choose joy. It's that easy. 

Thanks for reading to the end! 

Fortitudine Vincimus, 

Ryan