Last night we had one of those late-March snowstorms. The weather had been warming gradually over the last few days, and I couldn’t believe the forecast that we’d have yet another snowstorm. But the wind started blowing yesterday, and became colder and stronger as the day wore on. When I went to bed last night I heard from a friend who was driving home that the snow had started falling, and was expected to continue though much of the night.
I awoke this morning, having forgotten all about it. I dressed to go out walking, and when I opened the door the freezing air rushed in and I saw snow on the tips of the bushes near my sidewalk.
It wasn’t a welcome sight! I’ve been anxious for Spring to finally arrive for several weeks. Winter gets awfully old to me about this time each year. And this past week the air had been thick with pollution, which only added to the dreary feeling.
It was still dark while I walked, but I could see stars in the sky, so I knew that wind and the snow had cleared the atmosphere. I breathed in deeply, and enjoyed the crisp smell and feel of the cold, clean air.
I drove, still in the dark, to an all-day training event, and on my drive home, I marveled at the beauty that the snowstorm had created. The mountains that surround my high-desert valley were all capped with white, and the sky was as clear and as bright a blue as I’d ever seen. I had to stop and pull off the freeway and stand and gaze at it, and take it all in, knowing it wouldn’t happen very many more times this year.
As I stood looking, I thought how much better everything looked once the smog and dirt had been cleared out. The sun shone brighter, the fluffy clouds hung like huge cotton balls in the sky , and the mountains were gorgeous with their blanket of pristine white snow. It made me smile, inside and out.
And then I thought that my life is like that. Sometimes I let days and week pass and I don’t take time to clear out the negatives that seep into my heart and mind, and my attitude tends to get a bit polluted. My thinking gets cloudy, and my decisions are less-than-inspired. Sometimes it takes a storm to clear it all out. Bitter winds, treacherous storms, and long nights – but then, once I finally get it all cleared out, everything looks better.
Are you holding onto things that are holding you back? I invite you to make the effort to let go – to clear it all out – and then to see just how much better everything is.
As one great man said, “Don’t muck in the mire; don’t live in the past.” Clear it out!
To blue skies,
Roslyn
Find hope after loss 