Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Dark, Cold Winter


I have been recently talking with my dad about the stress of school and soccer these past few months. The winter is the time for my biggest tournaments, holidays, and of course school and finals. My dad informed me the winter months and the end of the year are the time when people most commonly get depressed. Is it the weather, the projects, family, work, or all of these? I have thought it out and decided it is a combination of the bunch. Projects are do at work or school and your running out of time because it's the end of the "year". People don't seem to stop a notice that besides new years, days blend into one another and those projects can be completed in the next week in January. The weather is bitter and cold and it is also extremely dark. No one wants to get up in the morning and no one wants to do anything other then drink hot chocolate and sit and watch movies. Another factor of this time of depression is family and the holidays. Between buying the perfect gifts and being forced to see your great Aunt Susie, you are panicking constantly. All of these are causes of stress which are common during the end of the year. As humans, I feel we must embrace all of these stresses. Your finally going to finish the project you have been slaving away on, you get to celebrate the holidays with family members you haven't seen in months and you get to play in the snow and see it's beauty each morning. We tend to look at the negative aspects of everything, take out the bad things in good things so we have a reason to complain. We have to realize to pick out the best traits, appreciate everything including working late at the office or staying up late to study for a test. The new year is the start of a new yearly purpose, you fulfilled your previous one and it is time to do new things. I personally look forward to the new year and appreciate every aspect of winter, including finals!

1 comment:

bshah said...

I totally agree how everyone looks at winter as a gloomy, depressing time of the year. But how I see it, it's only as worse as you make it seem. I personally love the cold season and the scent of walking out the door in the morning and smelling the fall of fresh, powdery snow. Seasons are just something that everyone must deal with, especially in Chicago! I know that whenever I start feeling tired of the snow I think about how much I would miss it if I lived without it. And as for the really dreadful events of winter, like finals, it's something we have to deal with. So instead of looking at it as a gruesome time where everyone wants to go brain dead, I know I actually find finals really useful because of the review on everything we have done previously. It's like that last test to see if you really understood everything. I like the feeling of accomplishment after they're over. In short, look at the glass half full, because sometimes that's all you can do. But sometimes it's all you need to do to change you life.