Winter blessings

I do love this time of year, even if I am freezing half the time. While there is a part of my soul that wants to live where the weather fits my flip-flops year round, December does seem made for cold and snow. When the temperature dips into the single digits (it was 2 degrees this morning) many analogies become real. The snow is cold enough to squeak when walked on. The air is crisp enough to make the inside of my nose tingle. The world is quiet, sound muffled by the layer of snow on the ground and the flakes in the air. I do feel grateful for warm clothes and a fire place and hot drinks. And the world does look clean and new under this blanket of white.

In fact the weather makes me feel very alive, especially when I leave the comfort of the warm house. The darkest day of the year has passed, and we can step into a world that is filling with light again. The cold is invigorating and encourages me to move quickly. How can I be anything but grateful?

There is a Jewish tradition of saying 100 blessings a day, starting with blessings of thanks for awakening in the morning, for having a body of amazing design, for the purity of our souls which are renewed daily, and for all the beauty and abundance in the world around us. We only need to look at the wondrous working of our own body, or the brilliance in the world around us to appreciate the many gifts we have been given. This is a lesson I have taken to heart this year, attempting to have "thank you" be the first words out of my mouth in the morning, and the final ones I say at night.

A new wedding, a new dress, and  new perspective, one of thanksgiving every day. Rather than wishing the cold away so that I can return to summer sports, I am giving thanks for it. Rather than wishing vacations would last longer, I am giving thanks that I am lucky enough to have days to spend in the manner I wish. Rather than wishing the next adventure would arrive, I am giving thanks for anticipation and the fun of planning.

Maybe this is one of the gifts of having adventures, that time in between to remember, reflect and to plan ahead! The pauses, like in music, are the empty spaces that make the notes sing. This time in between, when I can say thank you for having a job, when I can enjoy looking ahead, is a time of resonance. A time for my soul to catch up with the song of my life.