This is a phrase that was made very famous by HBO’s Game of Thrones. It carried with it a foretelling of doom and gloom, despair and disaster. In the farther north hemisphere of the planet, and, I imagine, in the farther south hemisphere as well, it simply indicates a change of seasons from warm to mild to cool to cold to BLOODY COLD. We do get used to it, though.
But how soon the really cold time of year arrives can vary quite a bit. This year, although, in Saskatchewan, we had a LOT of snow fall, we still had reasonably mild temperatures. I don’t really remember a time over the last 57 years where we had +2C at the end of November. But this year we did. It was lovely, for a change. We are much more used to it being at lease in the -20’sC. But this year spoiled us.
This morning I went outside with my dog, Freddy, as I usually do. I like to go out with him to clean up after him, otherwise his “debris” becomes poopsicles that essentially act as rocks that fly out of my snow blower and damage stuff. So, I like to keep on top of the cleanup. Well, this morning I stepped outside to a temperature that was WAY more frigid than we are used to. Immediately I thought of the phrase from Game of Thrones. When I came back in, I asked Rod, my partner, “What temp is it outside, because it feels like -20 or something?” He checked his phone. Yep. It was -22. No wonder it felt COLD.
This got me to thinking about how we, as humans, tend to view life in general. We tend to get quite complacent when it comes to how things are or how things always have been. We do tend to dread change because that change means that we have to adapt. And, let’s face it, no one likes to HAVE to adapt to anything…we simply do because it is required.
This morning, therefore, I wore warmer layers of clothes while going out to go grocery shopping. I could not believe that some folks were wondering around outside with no more than a hoodie for insulation. Mind you, they also had very disconcerted looks on their faces. I could not help but wonder why they had not, upon stepping outside, just turned around, gone back inside, and put on a winter coat? I mean, these were folks at least in their 30’s. You would think that they would have some sense to them as to how uncomfortable (at the least) it was going to be, and how dangerous (at the worst) it could possibly be if their vehicle broke down!
I have come to the realization that common sense is not very common at all. People will continue to do ridiculous things, and that is why we have so many warning labels on everything we buy. I guess we will have to accept that the herd will, eventually, be culled and the smart ones will, hopefully, survive the process.
This also got me to thinking about how we, as humans, will interpret things toward the worst possible scenario. So, for example, if you walk out of the bedroom and your partner asks you, “Is that what you are wearing to the party?” you will likely get offended. But your partner may be only wondering if your mind is made up and if they need to change their clothes to be more suitable. But we tend to go to the worst instead of the best. Sometimes I think that our psyches are actually programmed for the arrival of winter…and that the arrival is always predicted as being HARSH? There may be some truth to this, considering that our prehistoric ancestors likely had a LOT of things to worry about at the other end of every bend in the path. So it is likely that our brains are simply wired for the worst possible outcome. Is it any wonder that anxiety, stress and depression are so rampant in our world?
Rewiring our brains is not a simply task. It is not just a matter of using positive affirmations, because our unconscious minds will reject anything that is not congruent with its belief systems. We cannot affirm, “I am wealthy” and expect our unconscious minds to buy into that, considering that we are living on or below the poverty line. But what we can do is take a baby step with it. So instead of affirming, “I am wealthy” what we can affirm is, “I am becoming wealthy.” That way the subconscious mind will think to itself, “Okay then, prove it…I am open to that.” Once that is set in motion, our mind will open to an abundant amount of possibilities that can lead to personal wealth. Although I used wealth as the example, it is not all about money. Most of the most important things aren’t about money at all. A single person looking for a relationship will not have a subconscious mind open up to the affirmation, “I am loved beyond measure.” But what it will open to is, “I am becoming loved beyond measure.” Once that happens, our entire energy system will attune to that and resonate with others who are also vibrating at that rate, thus providing more opportunities to find love.
Really, what it all boils down to, though, is what Winter actually means to you. Yes, it can be extremely cold. But it also means things like no mosquitoes, no sunburns, no environmental allergies, and so on. So it can be quite the relief for some. It can also mean snow angels, snowmen and snow forts! And, let’s face it, those are a LOT of fun!