Why is it that we feel dissatisfied and tend to want what we don’t have, even with the smallest things, like the weather?
Last week, I warned the hubby not to look at the temperature before leaving for work it would just make him feel colder. Of course, he didn’t heed my advice, he rarely does. That used to irritate me, but now I’ve come to just accept it. On this particular day it was 44 degrees, he stated he was just sick of the cold. The word “sick” had that hissing sound, you know what I mean, where it sounds disgusting. I laughed, even though I agreed with him. You see, just month or so ago, he was just sick of the heat and couldn’t wait for winter. Of course, I, the one who always tries to look on the bright side and find the silver lining, reminded him that it could be worse. The week prior, it had been colder, 34 degrees, and if he remembered not long ago, he’d been looking forward to the cold weather. Yea, OK, that didn’t go over well, But hey, I tried.
Now.., I know some of you are thinking, “cold?, 34 is not cold!” Although you may be right to a certain extent, I would like to offer this, It’s a different kind of cold. (Geese, I can’t even type that without laughing!) My understanding is that the air is different. So it feels colder than 34 or 44 degrees, or whatever winter temperature it happens to be for the day. I really think our 34 degrees must feel somewhere around, say, 24 degrees, in the midwest.
I’ve thought a lot about this. It makes sense to me. Some have tried to convince me that the mid-west “cold” doesn’t feel as cold as it sounds….well you can’t fool me! And just for the record, California “cold” feels colder than it actually sounds. But there are those days…right in the middle of January, that we are blessed with 80 degree temperatures, and for that I am grateful. It’s also one reason that I live here and not in the mid-west! However, I do so appreciate the loved ones, (spies) who brave the midwest’s winter temperatures. They enter with excitement and their eyes wide open, but it doesn’t take long. The wool is lifted, and they feel it, the freezing cold. Yep, it’s freezing! They can’t believe it, they start to wish they were warmer and then they send out messages or warnings, if you will….and remind me… that freezing is freezing and there’s no mistaking it for a different kind of cold.
For the moment, and maybe even the duration, I’ll be satisfied right here where God has placed me.