Perspective Shift

I am patiently waiting for snow to return to Toronto.

That sentence ⬆️ might be the most surprising sequence of words I’ve ever strung together.

This patient waiting thing is a seismic shift. Most years I dream about the number of ways I can escape the snow and cold. With nowhere to go but home, resisting winter seems pointless this year.

With no meetings and events out of the house, most of the things I detest about winter have dropped away. I do not miss bundling up in layers and scraping snow from frozen windows while the car warms up and traffic gathers in the street. All on a timeline that doesn’t let up.

And its more than that.

The pandemic has been a catalyst for new routines, extra patience, and letting go of things that weren’t working anyways. The routine disruptions of a typical winter pale in comparison to executing just about any task this past year.

Resistance to things that can’t or won’t change is futile. As far as I can tell, my resistance to winter will never change the weather.

All I can do is adapt my response. Focus on what I can influence and what I can create. It’s usually more than I thought, once I let my perspective shift.