Pre-Winter Pep Talk

October 21, 2014October 21, 2014 by theseordinarygraces In To Myself, Write 31 Days 7 Comments

Dear Me,

I almost addressed this letter to “coffee”. It would’ve been quite different. A love song maybe. Ode to Coffee. It is always there for you, ya know. Always warming your soul on these colder fall/winter days. I say fall/winter because it snowed yesterday, but now it’s back to regular fall today. It’s getting dark earlier and staying dark later. And you are struggling.

Struggling to get up when it’s cold and dark. Struggling to stay motivated during the day when a warm cup of coffee and a blanket seem so much more inviting than… well, just about anything. You are perpetually cold and unquestionably brought down by winter darkness. I mean, in the summer, during the 24 hours of usable daylight you’re all “Yay, let’s conquer Alaska! Hikes every day! Rest is for losers!”

And then winter comes and you’re like ” ‘Outside’? No, I don’t wanna do that. Who really needs to get out of bed, anyway? Why does this husky need to go for a walk every day? HOW DO PEOPLE LIVE LIKE THIS???” (By the way, the answer to that is coffee. Endless coffee. And maybe a happy light.)

Admit it. You can be a tad dramatic.

What are you going to do this year? You’re already falling into a slump. Do you know you actually cried over risotto today? Not while you were eating it. That would be understandable. Eating risotto is like having angels sing Hallelujah in your mouth. No, you cried over the recipe for risotto. The recipe.

You need to just stop. Put on your base layers and your sweatpants and go make those peanut butter cookies. Pour yourself a glass of wine with dinner, maybe another after the kids go to bed. Binge watch Friends while you knit a Christmas present. And then get up when your (first) alarm goes off tomorrow.

Don’t be a wimp.