Winter Blues

I used to just detest winter. I would have rather been anywhere but here for the nasty winters. I would whine and complain about it as if that would change the weather. Today I’m still not a huge fan but I have learned to appreciate what we do have here instead of looking at what we do not.

The first thing I learned (or at least started to pay attention to) was after reading a specific book and realized with our (cold) winters it kills bugs and we are not as susceptible to certain diseases from these bugs that could kill us (malaria for example). Most times when I have went to a developing country I took malaria pills to ward off malaria. Others in those countries may not be so lucky. People freezing to death here does happen but is rare and usually only in extreme or stupid cases.

We are blessed in that we do not have to worry about wars in our country or rebels attacking us for whatever reason. We do have thieves (and other criminal acts) we need to protect ourselves from, but again it is not as drastic as other countries.

I have not been tortured or killed for my faith. Made fun of, sure. Had awkward moments, of course. But tortured or killed, nope.

Our dress code is pretty flexible. As much as I would like to wear shorts and sandals in the winter, I obviously do not for cases mentioned at the end of paragraph two. I’ve also come to realize that many of the countries that are hot enough year round for that type of dress do not allow it or it is not recommended.

Where I personally live, it has never had the experience of a hurricane, typhoid or tsunami. Again winter has its downfalls, but destroying and wiping out nations is not one of them.

So with the above mentioned, I have learned to count my blessings even in the bitter cold nights of a long winter season. Because really; it could be much worse.