It’s all in the way you look at it. Winter. The season of snow, wind and cold. Living in Rochester, New York, I’ve learned that unless you embrace the winter with open arms (preferably covered in a warm down jacket), the long season will wear you down both mentally and physically. We’ve been lucky this year to have a blanket of snow already covering our yards and roof tops. The holiday season feels right with the glistening white beckoning out the window. The last two mornings I’ve headed out to run in snowshoes on some beautiful trails carved out by the glaciers long ago with friends and dogs in tow. The sun dappling through the woods and the white outlines of branches hanging low with caught snow make the park magical. I was thinking as I huffed and puffed along the trail today that most people wouldn’t realize that it was sunny outside being trapped indoors at work or choosing a gym workout instead of facing the elements. I am always taken by surprise when going up a ski lift or trudging through a trail to find that it is so easy to be outside in the winter, that it’s fun and makes you feel alive when taking advantage of what mother nature has created for us. It might be easy to moan and groan about the weather. It might be easy to hibernate the winter away by staying indoors as much as possible, but life is too short. Wouldn’t it be better to throw on wool socks and head outside to appreciate the moment and capture the beauty of what life is about.

The Dalai Lama once said, “Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.”

Get outside and enjoy the happiness of winter everyone!