With Every Serene Snowfall
I stare outside, at the endless snow-blanketed fields, glistening with the shimmer of a thousand suns. The world is white, yet I feel surrounded by color. The air is suffused with wintry frost, yet I feel warm. Outside, I see no sign of life—no leaves hugging the bark of the trees, no birds gliding with the breeze—yet rejuvenation comes with my every breath, my every thought. How can such a scene breed such paradoxical emotions? How can an entity as simple as snow remind us of Earth’s enormity, of our humbling microscopic nature?
It may seem odd, but the snow reminds me of kindness. There is a certain inexplicably magical quality about it that accentuates the triumph of the human spirit. Perhaps because like genuine connection and sympathy and compassion, it beautifies everything it covers, brightening every caressed morsel of ground. When I stare at the whiteness of the world before me, I am again reminded that the most breathtaking quality a person can possess is not one that can be measured by a scale or examination, but by every tiny act of selfless goodwill.
It is so much more important to be beautiful internally than have the “perfect” figure. It is so much more important to see the world through the eyes of others than to make sure everyone understands exactly who you are. It is so much more important to give than to receive. It is so much more important to focus on the sparkle of the snow rather than the frigid cold that comes with it.
Let the snow be a reminder that happiness and contentment and wholeness, that the emotions that make life worth living, can be found in unexpected places, under the most unusual of circumstances. Let the snow show you that it is not an innate meaning that makes things come to life, but our perception of them. And use this newfound realization that your thoughts bring the inanimate to life as a vow to live everyday with a positive outlook, for it is not merely our experiences that shape our state of being, but our state of being that shapes our experiences.
Whether it is specifically in recovery or in the grand scheme of life, what will continue to keep us going even when obstacles rapidly consume our fuel is not an external source of energy, but these universal reminders that fall visibly to our feet with every serene snowfall.