Winter is coming . . .

I'm sitting here in my favourite chair, at midnight, as the snow continues to fall outside.

Winter is coming . . .

Actually, as far as I'm concerned, once the first snowfall happens it's winter already. Break out the snow boots, the windshield scrapers, shovels and salt, and settle in for a season of coldness, greyness, wetness and blahness.

Or . . . get excited for a season of snowflakes, snowmen, Christmas trees, hot chocolate and gatherings with family and friends.

Which one to pick?

;)

This year, I pick the latter. I've had a few years at this point in my life when I've gravitated more towards the former. Seeing the snow fall for the first time of the season and feeling a sort of dread. I love Summer - I am a full-on beach lovin', sun lovin', flip flop kinda' gal. So for me, the realization that Winter has arrived has mostly been a bit of a let down in the past, more of a "just get through it and start counting down the days until Summer arrives again" kind of thing.

Not this year though. Life is way too short to live with a "just get through it" attitude.

Today I saw the snow falling and I got excited. Like, really excited. I may have spontaneously broken out into a happy dance right in the middle of the sales floor at my store.

I don't know what's changed, I didn't actually consciously choose when I heard it may snow today to be excited about it. But I'll tell 'ya - I saw that snow falling through the sky today and it represented something to me . . .

Opportunity.

A whole new season. Not just season as in weather, but season as in life.

How amazing is it that we live another day, another month, another year, another season in life? Sometimes it can seem like the odds are so highly stacked against us it's hard to see around them. But in my 33 years of life, I have experienced roughly 12,045 days, or 17,344,800 minutes, where I have beaten the odds.

That's crazy-town. In the best possible way.

Every single day, every single minute, is someone's last. Not to get all morbid on you, but it's both a sobering and amazingly life-affirming thing to think about that every once in awhile. Life is truly a gift, yet we spend so much of our time feeling ticked off about it.

Snow falls, and we sigh and think Winter is coming. We cringe as we think about all the snow we'll have to shovel, or that we have to dig out our gloves and that horrible winter jacket we hate. We get anxious as we think about having to commute in this weather, or that the heating bill will go up.

Or . . .

Snow falls, and we smile and think Winter is coming. We're thankful that we still have the physical strength to shovel the driveway at the house we're blessed to live in, and that we have gloves and a warm winter jacket to wear that still fits. We're grateful as we commute to a job we're lucky to have in this economy (that will pay our heating bill in our cozy house), in a car that runs and keeps us safe.

All the while, I breathe in, I breathe out.

I am alive.

Winter is coming . . .