A Simple Trick To Stay Positive & Find The Good In Winter
If you struggle in winter, this is for you.
I heard the perfect, most effortless reframe yesterday, and I just had to share it.
And this is particularly close to my heart, because – I don’t know about you – but I’d much rather be sitting on a beach in Mexico than bundling up in 5 layers just to take the dog out.
So…
Outside my gym is a small car-wash place.
It’s brilliant. You can drop off your keys, go workout, and come back to a clean car.
Yesterday, as I’m leaving the gym, the guy next to me walks towards it.
(Let’s call him Hugh Grant – because I like to imagine my life in London as a random conglomeration of British comedies.)
Anyway…Hugh heads over to pick up his car.
We’ve been having our first spat of winter weather this week, with high’s hovering just about freezing.
So Hugh goes to get his key from the car washer (let’s call him Michael Caine).
Quite casually, Hugh says: “It’s been freezing this week, hasn’t it?”
He didn’t mean anything by it. That’s just Hugh, making conversation.
But not to Michael. Michael was offended.
(Ok, maybe not offended, but he did sense something was off… )
Michael refused to be taken in by Hugh’s very British, “Everything’s only just-ok” view of life.
So Michael smiles, hands Hugh his key, and says, in that cheery South-London accent that actually did remind me of Michael Caine:
“‘Course t’is. It’s winter, in’it?”
End of story.
Riveting…I know.
The point is: we all know a Hugh and a Michael.
We all have both Hugh and Michael within us.
Michael is out there, working hard all day long in the cold weather, but he’s happy and cheerful.
The way he frames his thoughts keeps him from spiraling down a negative loop.
He’s not hoping reality will be different than what it is. He’s not fighting against it.
Obviously winter is going to be cold…it’s winter.
He intuitively knows that the sooner he accepts where he is, right now, the happier he will be.
Can you imagine Hugh out there doing that?
On the surface, remarking on the weather doesn’t seem to be that negative.
But his tone was off…and he’d only been outside for 30 seconds.
Chances are, if he were out there longer, Hugh would spiral.
He would say a few pleasantries to his customers, sure. He’d crack a few jokes and make a few innocent, sarcastic comments about the weather.
He might try to make light of the situation, but underneath his smile he’d be hiding some pretty deep discontentment.
The more he pushes against the cold, the more he keeps focusing on it.
He might try to be cheerful, but his underlying thoughts are keeping him stuck.
So now here’s the real question:
Who would you rather be?
I’ll be the first to admit that in that moment, Michael saved me.
I was in a good mood, but I was focused on the cold (just like Hugh).
When I heard that simple reframe, it immediately moved me into a better state.
I used it again when I took the dog out this morning.
Obviously it’s cold. It’s winter…what else would you expect?
It’s a tiny little shift that can point you down a better path.
It helps you to accept, smile…and have a good day.
If The Winter Blues Get You Down…We Can Help
Remember: You deserve to be happy .
You can’t let the little negative voice in your head get in your way.
At The Joy Within, we show you how to harness the power of your natural, inner joy to win the fight against those pesky negative thoughts, so you can feel calm, confident, and happy…no matter what.
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