Why are You Such a Whiner
Daily Meditation — 4/5/2022
Personal Meditations, ed. II
This is a continuation from yesterday’s post, “Yes, It Snowed Again…”
As I mentioned then, it snowed yesterday! In April!
I went on to cite the irony of the many who live in a place like this and how nonsensical it is…What did you expect the weather to be like this far north? Palm trees, screeching monkeys and eternal sunbeams?
Yesterday and today’s discussion are on these two points:
- That we choose nearly everything in our lives
- Gratitude Mindset/perception
“Whether we like it or not, the cleanliness of our sheets, our attitude, our car we drive, our job, how intelligent our kids become, our weight, food, attractiveness, competence/mastery, future, income, and where we live…” was how I started it off.
And it’s true — we choose everything…including where we live.
But the continuation is that we end up incessantly complaining about nearly all of these things.
I get it.
We all want a 6 pack. Sunshine. To eat pizza everyday. Be surrounded by attractive people who tell us how hot we are.
But we act in a manner that prevents us from having these. We choose acting in a way that makes these inaccessible.
But even if we have some of these or fractions of them, we are not grateful for them!
Getting back to the bit about living in the UP of Michigan and the snowfall in April…
I love winter.
And spring, summer, and fall too!
Though I, personally, “run hot,” and do things like keep my house at an insane 62F most of the winter, I do still love summer.
Summer is a contrast to winter, and in that, it is made more beautiful.
Diamonds are very beautiful things, made over millennia and then lovingly tooled by mastered artisans into their finest forms…
But when set in contrast — in silver or gold — they are even more beautiful!
Without contrast, how grateful, really, are we for anything?
We all love our spouses…but when they’ve been away on business for a week, we really realize how much they do for us and how much we love them.
We adore our children…but after they spend the night at grandma’s (or wherever), we realize how quiet and flat life is.
Everyone loves pizza…but it’s when you decide on a salad, instead, that you realize how much you love pizza.
And thus — summer. The vibrant colors, birds singing gleefully, lapping rivers, bustling streets and vendors…it is in winter you realize how special summer is!
Winter is beautiful and should be adored, as well. Enjoying a hot mug of cocoa, soft music, warm wool clothes and blankets, and the silence of the world outside being painted white by nature as Christmas nears…I miss this during the summer just as much as I miss the colors and rivers during winter.
We at times are so shortsighted in our lives that we forget to be grateful for that which we have.
So, when I step out to start my car in the wee hours before going to the gym and see the carpet of fresh snow?
I look up and see the clear, jet sky, dotted with constellations.
I enjoy the “Pffomp, pffomp, pffomp…” the unique sound of my boots on the specific type of “snowball perfect” wet, packing snow.
There’s a certain, glittery, scintillating quality of fresh snow as light catches it.
I’m grateful for all of these, and then my wanders in loving anticipation to the spring (hopefully) exploding to life over the coming weeks…
This snowfall will be a blip in history.
Gratitude and mindfulness should not be.
Follow for daily philosophical meditations.
These are distillations from my coming book “YouDaimonia: the Ancient Philosophy of Human Flourishing.”
