As the days get shorter and the end of the year approaches, the question of how best to spend winter days has resurfaced.
The mental image of a perfect winter day varies for nearly everybody. For some, Winter Break means flying downhill on a sled racing their friends, the freezing wind whipping all of their faces, while adrenaline pumps through their veins. For others, Winter Break means time spent at home next to a crackling fire, hot cocoa in hand, wrapped up in blankets, watching a show with people they love.
As holiday-themed videos have begun to flood my Instagram feed, I have wondered about which I truly prefer. On one hand, the vision of a perfect day of snowfall is pretty hard to beat: snowball fights with my friends, walks with my dog – whose reaction to snow is extreme confusion but simply enthusiastic – and building snowmen with my brother and sister. Everything about a snow day seems magical, and this — the notion of chasing a perfect dream state — is something I have realized is extremely detrimental to happiness.
Being a distance runner, I train outside without the ability to wear many layers, no matter what the weather is. While the image in my head of a nice snowy day exists still in high regard, much more often the reality awaiting me outside is a torrent of rain, slipping hazards and temperatures cold enough to harm the exposed body but not freeze the rainfall into snow – at least not snow that sticks. The routine warm shower followed by rest indoors after a run, unfortunately, becomes the highlight of most “snow” days.
As the atmosphere continues to change, I can less reliably hope for a full day where snowfall sticks, and much less where there is enough to sled on. By romanticizing something in my head that likely will not happen, the only thing I set myself up for is disappointment. This is something that bleeds into many aspects of my life, with my goals for cross country races and plans for hangouts with friends; allowing myself to curate too specific of a vision only highlights the aspects that I feel I miss.
Not everything about visualization is fully negative. No matter how stressed I am with school work, how cold it is when I run or how generally bad a day can manage to get, I remind myself that Winter Break is not too far away. No matter what, I have the promise of soon going home, feeling the warm embrace of my blankets and resting. For this reason, to me, nothing beats the reliability of a “warm winter” – safe inside, whether alone or with people I love.
No matter what attributes of the winter season you look forward to, do not let the perfect image in your head of what could be ruin your ability to be appreciative of what you have, and especially not be a detriment to your ability to spend and enjoy meaningful time with those around you
