The Benefits Of The Winter Seasons In Our Lives

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did
not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.
- Charlotte Bronte

Winter can be a struggle, can't it? Although this year has been a little different then many years (warmer temperature, more sun, etc...), winter can still be a bit of a drag. For those who experience some degree of seasonal affective disorder, it can be even more difficult. For more information on that, check out the following posts:
Surviving The Winter Blues

What Is Seasonal Affective Disorder?
Causes of Seasonal Affective Disorder
Symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder

Treatments For Seasonal Affective Disorder

Last year I wrote a post entitled Is There Hope In Winter? I'd like to discuss again a point I brought up in that post. While many of us don't love winter, it provides an interesting reminder and lesson for our lives. While winter is a long, dark, tiresome, or sad period of our lives, we go through it confident that spring will come once again. With it, spring will bring sunshine, new life, flowers, birds chirping, and a heightened mood. The seasons mirror an important lesson for our lives. The winter allows us to learn how to survive unpleasant situations while having hope that spring will come, and with it will come joy once again. When we hit times of adversity, like winter, we feel distress, notice our mood decreases, and feel like the light in our lives decreases. Adversity doesn't last forever, just like winter. Following times of adversity and grief comes the signs of spring, slowly and surely creeping into our lives again. 

There is hope. Whether it's the weather, a tough situation, adversity, pain, or grief- spring will come. Joy will return. 

Now it's your turn!

How do you allow the hope of spring to get you through winter or times of adversity in life? What's your favorite season?

What is Seasonal Affective Disorder?

Now that we have arrived into the depth of winter, a common complaint I hear in my office is that people are struggling with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Because this is reasonably common, and it's the more common season to struggle with this, I thought I would do a few posts on the topic.

Today I will simply address the question "What is Seasonal Affective Disorder"?

According to the Mayo Clinic, "seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that occurs at the same time every year. If you're like most people with seasonal affective disorder, your symptoms start i the fall and may continue into the winter months, sapping your energy and making you feel moody. Less often, seasonal affective disorder causes depression in the spring or early summer" (source).

While SAD can occasionally occur in the spring/summer months, it is far more likely that people will experience this in the fall and winter. SAD is also known as the "winter blues" and is a feeling of sadness and depression during those months. Approximately 5% of the population struggles with SAD, although this number varies by state (Alaska would have a much higher percentage of people diagnosed with SAD then southern states, for example). Interestingly, "women are twice to three times more likely to suffer from the winter blues than men" (psychcentral).

Now it's your turn:
Have you ever heard of or experienced the winter blues? 

A Little Recap and Favorite Past Posts

My posting schedule may be a little lighter this week... or at least lighter content wise. I had a fantastic Thanksgiving (more or less) with family & friends, with a few difficult situations thrown into it. I'm safely back home and have a busy week at work, mixed in with a few other commitments and trying to catch up on the week that I was visiting family. Last December I didn't have many readers yet, as my blog was brand new. Because of that, I wanted to post a few posts from last winter that stand out in my mind, and relate to this holiday season!

Warming Up With A Cup of Tea <- There are some mental health/emotional benefits to tea as well!
I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day <- This is one of my favorite Christmas songs. I didn't love it growing up, but a few years ago I learned the history of the song, and it's really interesting! Make sure to check this one out!
Tips For Surviving The Holidays With Family <- Let's be honest. Sometimes family can almost ruin the holiday season. Here are a few tips to stay healthy and happy while being around your family over the holidays!
My Little Lifesaver <- TOTALLY worth it!
Serenity, Courage, Wisdom
When There's A Winter Storm <- Tips for staying safe in the winter months!

Now it's your turn:
Feel free to share one of your OWN favorite winter posts here! I'd love to see them.

Why I'm Not Complaining Right Now...

Today I've seen the feed on twitter full of complaints about daylight savings time. I get that it's a little annoying to have to change clocks, and it can mess up one's internal body clocks for a few days as well. For those with children, it can certainly make it difficult to convince children to go to bed when it's still light out (I remember trying to "logically" argue with my parents that if it was still light I wasn't supposed to be sleeping). Did I miss that extra hour of sleep today? Absolutely! But the picture above is why I'm not complaining. That's what it looks like at 8 pm-It's STILL light out:) This means that I'll leave work and it will still be light out, and that I'll be able to get in some long workouts after work. I'm so thankful that we've made it to this point in the calendar year! Remember this post on finding hope in winter? Well, the thing that the cold, barrenness of winter reminds me of is that spring (hope) will come. So just as in life we have to have hope, the time change is a sort of reminder that it's important to hope, because change does come! So I'm not complaining, even though I've been a little sleepy all day, and I'm slightly concerned about my ability to fall asleep at anything other then a very late hour tonight.

Do you do ok with the time change, or do you dislike it? Do you find any hope in winter or spring? 

Is There Hope In Winter?

“Expect to have hope rekindled. Expect your prayers to be answered in wondrous ways. The dry seasons in life do not last. The spring rains will come again.”

-Sarah Ban Breathnach

By this point in the winter, I'm yearning for the days of spring and summer. I'm sick of walking carefully so I don't slip on the eyes, sick of getting up early to clean the ice off my car every morning, and I'm sick of feeling cold to my bones. I enjoy the beauty of freshly fallen snow, but hate the slush that comes after. After the recent Winter Storm of last week (click here to see some pictures from Tuesday), I was ready for a weekend of warmer weather to melt the snow and ice. However, yesterday I woke up to an even bigger snow storm, which didn't let up all day. Needless to say, I was annoyed. 

This morning, as I was complaining to myself about the cold, I paused to think about the changing seasons. Although sometimes the winter seems hopeless and never-ending, the thing that keeps me going is the reminder that Spring WILL come. No matter how Winter is, how cold, how icy, how endless, or despairing it feels, we carry around the knowledge that Spring will come, and with it, cheerful sounds of birds, bright colors of flowers, warm sun, and hope come as well. Isn't this true with life too? 

In life, we hit seasons that are like Winter. This season may be brief, or it may seem to last forever. Sometimes it feels like we cannot survive the season, that there's no way that Spring will come. But just as Spring will always come after Winter, so it is true in our life. When we hit winter, we hold onto the hope and the knowledge that spring will come, and with it joy, happiness, and color will return. So, as much as I hate winter, I'm so thankful that I experience all 4 seasons, as it's a wonderful reminder for my personal life as well. 

And of course, I couldn't end this post without some pictures of the nasty little storm we got yesterday! 

 View while driving to the Movie Theater. Very poor visibility. 

 Look at those huge chunks of snow falling!

 Look how thick the snow is on the top of my car!

 Icicles

 Bird in the tree...

Even if I dislike winter, I still think this is absolutely beautiful...