Today was a gorgeous late-winter day. In Northeastern Wisconsin, we don’t often get sunny, 50-degree days in February. Mostly this time of year? Gray, gray and more gray. With some sloppy, slushy precipitation thrown in for fun.
Around this time of year, many Wisconsinites — including several who are near and dear to my heart — go through some seasonal depression symptoms. Let’s face it: When the weather is cold and crappy outside, it’s really hard to stay active. To stay positive. To eat right, exercise and get enough fresh air and sunlight. To add all these factors together and sleep well at night. To keep stress levels down. The holidays are over, the Packers season is done and it seems there’s not a whole lot to look forward to around these parts until, oh, roughly Memorial Day weekend or so.
Not true.
There is truly something beautiful in each and every day of our lives. We might notice it and appreciate it — we might not. Personally, I fall into the trap of viewing life through a spyglass. That is to say, I’m so excited about planning my next vacation, organizing the next girls’ getaway weekend and looking ahead to the next “big thing” that I’m completely ignoring and missing the moment and the fun times that are happening right now.
“The trick is to enjoy life. Don’t wish away your days, waiting for better ones ahead.”
~Marjorie Pay Hinckley
My family does an amazing job of finding things to celebrate, no matter what time of year. Over the course of our marriage, my husband and I have established fun little traditions that break up the mundane and the monotonous times of the year and continually give us quirky little things to look forward to and joyfully anticipate:
- February, for instance, always brings my husband’s birthday just before Valentine’s Day. We take advantage of the grocery store sales on lobster and crab legs and throw an annual “Seafood Extravaganza” dinner for family and friends.
- During March, my husband becomes obsessed with the Road to the Final 4 tournaments. Even though I rarely watch NCAA college basketball, it’s super fun to indulge this once-a-year tradition and get caught up in the excitement of the teams and the last-minute buzzer beaters. (Our girls also insist on having at least one Shamrock Shake from McDonald’s during Lent.)
- If we get a mild Sunday at home during March, our tradition in recent years has been to have a snowbank bonfire, drink some wine out of a box and toast the memory of my uncle Dave Kaste, who passed away five years ago in March. (The girls don’t drink the wine, of course. But they love the tradition. And who doesn’t like having a bonfire in the snow?)
My point is that there is always something you can do, always something you can celebrate if you get creative and look for the positive aspects of each day. While I can work on putting down my spyglass and not spend so much time anticipating and looking ahead to the future, I think we all can take a moment to celebrate the beauty and cherish the uniqueness that each day brings.
A great place to start — especially if you have kids — is with the National Day Calendar. Every day of the year is a “National Day” for something. (Including February 29, which is National Leap Year Day.) For example, did you know that today is National Kahlua Day? Anyone want to join me for a White Russian?
Cheers to finding reasons to savor and celebrate each and every day!
LB