My Winter Attitude Adjustment

by Kelly Burgos Harper
Kelly Burgos Harper Communications & Vocal Coaching

I hate winter. Even though I was born and raised in Pittsburgh, or should I say, PittsBRRRgh, I have never made friends with winter. Then I moved to Los Angeles for ten years, which allowed me to estrange myself from the unspeakable season altogether.
 
When I began to contemplate moving back to the Brrrgh, my family and friends were very encouraging. “Come back! Don’t worry about the winter…our winters have been so mild,” they said. “We don’t get the snow we used to get,” they said.
 
Lies! All lies!
 
My second winter back home, there was a two-week, continuous stretch of snowfall that made me wonder if I’d ever get out of my house again. That year, icicles that resembled giant stalactites hung from my roof and awnings.
 
Though I complain my way through every winter, I will occasionally admit that snow is pretty. Especially when it’s that sweet, fluffy stuff that floats down, gently lands on your eyelashes, and makes the landscape look like a Norman Rockwell painting. But when you have to drive in it, clean it off your car, shovel it from your walkway and driveway, salt it before it turns to ice, and get special boots to walk in it, the beauty quickly fades.
 
And that’s just the snow. I haven’t even gotten to the cold yet, which I hate, or the gray skies and short hours of daylight that I also hate.
 
Then there’s the lingering. With 12 months and four seasons, each season should get about three months of stage time, right? Nope. Miss Winter is a calendar-hogging diva who steps on the toes of autumn and spring to snag as much of the spotlight as possible, sometimes for five or even six months!
 
However, if there’s something I hate more than this tedious season, it’s hearing myself complain about it. So, this year, I’m making a winter attitude adjustment.
 
I guess I realized that I won’t win a battle against Mother Nature. Winter is going to come each year regardless of how I feel about it. So, here are eight things I’ve been doing to help me change my perspective and make the best of the season.
 
 
1. Accepting Winter’s Gift
Just after the new year, I asked a friend if she made any resolutions. She said that she likes to take this time of year to get quiet and to open up to receiving rather than making plans and resolutions. She said that spring is when she gets into the planning and goal-setting mode. Her perspective clicked with me. She’s following nature. How wonderful it must be to get in sync with nature rather than trying to fight it. All the more reason I needed to find a way to embrace the season rather than keep wasting energy hating it and working against it.
 
Over the next few days, her words swirled around in my brain and took me back to a blog post I had just written about the importance of listening. I started to see how winter provides a chance to slow down, go inward, listen to ourselves, receive inner guidance, and re-emerge in spring with renewed energy, direction, and focus. It brought a wave of comfort to my soul.
 
Almost daily, I feel the tug of email, social media, text, phone, and endless events, as they vie for my attention and for time on my calendar. I love being social, but I need quiet time to recover and rejuvenate, to just be with my own thoughts, and to pursue my creative and writing goals.
 
And here I’ve been, hating the very season that gifts us cold, bad weather days that make way for the quiet time I so desperately need. This has been the most valuable discovery in my winter attitude adjustment process.
 
 
2. Rockin’ A Nighttime Routine
There’s lots of talk about morning routines, but I have to give props to the effectiveness of my new and glorious nighttime routine. My routine is all about comfort, warmth, and paving the way for a restful night’s sleep a little earlier than usual since the cold mornings make it hard for me to get up early.
 
Normally, I’m a morning shower person, but evening showers are the foundation of my glorious nighttime routine. Since it’s evening and I’m not rushing to get to work or a meeting, I can take the time to enjoy my shower at a leisurely pace.
 
I put my space heater right near the shower, crank that baby up as high as it can go, and place my towel over the shower door. All this is so I don’t have to step out from a warm shower into a shockingly freezing bathroom that makes me cringe and groan.
 
I set out my warmest, coziest pajamas and cutest pair of fleece-lined, puppy face slipper socks right near the shower so I can slip them on as soon as I’ve dried off and treated my thirsty skin to my favorite, silky body lotion.
 
Sometimes I top it off with a cup of chamomile-lavender tea and a quick gratitude reflection.
 
It’s the little things, right?
 
 
3. TV & Movie Marathoning
Fall and winter are the best times for shows and movies, anyway, so I decided to consciously embrace winter as an opportunity to devote some time to exploring Netflix and Hulu shows, and making movie dates with friends and family. And I don’t have to suffer through my inner critic’s “You’re not being productive enough” scoldings because winter gives us a pass to slow down. I don’t ski or snowboard, so what else is there to do?
 
 
4. Sippin’ & Soupin’
For me, sipping a delicious hot beverage or savoring a hearty soup can make a cold day totally doable and even delightful. So, this winter, I’ve spent a little time experimenting with new, vegan soup recipes. I’m also allowing myself to indulge in delicious lattes and to expand my tea collection. My absolute favorite herbal teas so far are Winter Fruits and Flowers and Lemon Passion Comfort from Café Kolache in Beaver, PA.
 
 
5. Doing Mornings My Way
Dark, cold mornings make getting up and preparing for the day a slow process for me. This year, instead of beating myself up about it, I’m choosing to work with my natural tendencies. So, I’ve embraced a morning routine that begins at a doable time for me, and I’ve made it a point to not book meetings before 10:00 a.m. if I can help it. The core components of my morning routine include The 5 Second Journal and exercise in realistic doses for me.
 
 
6. Movin’ & Groovin’
My energy and spirits can get low in the winter. I know that exercise helps, so I cleared the cobwebs from my elliptical machine and yoga stuff and created a few different workout routines for myself – a shorter one and a longer one, so I can do whichever I have time for based on the day’s schedule. I try to do mornings because it sets me up for a better day, but if the morning is full and I need to push it to evening, I let myself.
 
Bonus: I get my body warmed up without turning up the thermostat.
 
 
7. Checking Off Pesky Little Projects
I’ve been dedicating some of the winter “hunker down” time to little projects I tend to put off. Even things as trivial as rolling the coins we collect all year or going through the junk drawer or organizing clothes or files. And if I can do these while watching a show, even better!
 
 
8. Cozying Up My Home
I love a cozy home, especially around the holidays when the tree is up and the house is adorned with festive decorations. So, this year, I let the tree and decorations stay up a little longer to hang onto some of that warm and fuzzy vibe it gives me. And guess what? The Christmas tree police never showed up to issue me a citation. Also, I installed a fireplace app on my Smart TV. It gives me the illusion of fireplace warmth and crackle. I have it on right now.
 
 
So, how’s it working?
 
Four things are happening:

• I’m having some delightful experiences.
• The nighttime and morning routines are setting me up for more productive and focused days. My business is diggin’ that!
• I’m complaining a LOT less about winter…if at all.
• I feel like I’m practicing more self-care than usual.
• I’m getting stuff done that I wasn’t making room for before.

 
I’d say that it’s working quite well. But this may all go out the window if it’s still snowing on Easter as it has been known to do here in the Northeast.
 
 
In the bigger picture of my business...
 
In the bigger picture, as I experiment with shifting my perspective to improve my relationship with winter, I’ve been thinking about how I can apply the same tactic to help me embrace some other things I dislike.
 
In my business, for example, there are a handful of buzzkill tasks that I have to do to run my business. Because I dislike them so, I sometimes put them off until they become looming beasts that will now be more difficult and take more time to tackle. Meanwhile, I’ve also wasted time and energy dreading them or complaining about them. Just like all the years of whining about winter, my negative attitude toward my buzzkill tasks created behavior that does not serve me or my business well.
 
So, in the year ahead, I’ll be challenging myself to shift my perspective and make the best of these tasks just as I’m learning to do with my new BFF, winter. I’ll keep you posted.

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Here’s a TED Talk and some articles you might find interesting, helpful, and inspiring:
 
Perspective is Everything
 
7 Ways to Make the Most of Winter
 
How to Motivate Yourself to Do Things You Don’t Want to Do
  
How to Make the Most of Your Workday
 
19 Powerful Nighttime Routines That Will Help You Wake Up Happy

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