Carpe Diem.. Even if it is freezing!!

I’ll admit that I am one of the worst people for uttering that phrase you hear so often in this part of the country, “WHY do people want to live here???” as I’m scraping ice that would be enviable for a curling rink off my windsheild. We’ve all has those days that no matter what we do, nothing but a hot bath and a spiked hot chocolate can warm you up. It is these very moments why I ask myself why we STILL live in Saskatchewan and endure these winters year after year. I envy the people that escape for the coldest part of the winter to hot destinations and come back looking unnaturally relaxed for this time of year. If I glance at the framed picture above my couch that we took in Maui of the ocean at sunset with the palm trees gently bending in the breeze or smell coconut anytime between September and June it is enough to send me into an angry fit of “Why me Why ME WHY MMMMEEE”.

Then, there are days like today. On days like today I remember why I don’t leave this place. The sun shining down and the snow reflecting the rays back into the atmosphere, making everything seem so bright and ethereal. The world covered in the blanket that makes everything seem both so quiet, and so loud. The way it sounds to only hear the crunching under your boots as you tromp across the field. And, of course the rosy glow in my children’s cheeks after we’ve been outside for awhile.

Nothing makes you feel more alive than sincerely enjoying every moment of your life… even in the cold. There is a saying that I just can’t seem to keep out of my head lately. “The way we spend our days, is of course, the way we spend our lives”. Why yes, it is isn’t it?? So often we sit around and think of things we would rather be doing,.. like laying on the beach hearing the waves crash onto the sand, and seriously neglect where and what we are doing that day in our life. Because, as the saying goes, if we are forever spending our days wishing we could be doing something else, somewhere else, what kind of life is that?

I also remember a conversation I had with a friend once after I had complained that I didn’t want to be at work, and was consequently sulky and dare I say, even a bit bitchy. To which he said, “You have to be here either way, so you might as well be happy about it!”.

So, my friends, I have to be here, in the almost-arctic (haha) whether I like it or not. So I’m gonna keep putting my boots on, bundle up as best as my mom taught me, take a big deep breath of the winter air and be happy about it!