Snow Bound or Snow Days?

Take Pen to Paper: Edition 121

Jan 16, 2025

Brrrr… friends,

I don’t know about you, but I was not built for snowy days. We have had snow on the ground for a week. That’s not typical here.

With the snow coming at the end of the winter holiday, my routines were disrupted for three weeks instead of two. I was starting to go stir-crazy, even feeling a little down.

In this newsletter:

The aspects of opportunities.
Letting your circumstances take control.
It’s a matter of choosing to act.

Opportunities: More Than What Comes To You

We think of opportunities as being presented to us.

Someone or something intervenes and offers us an opportunity to choose or not. We associate opportunities with social and cultural experiences.

Opportunities offered to us are easy to see, but what about the opportunities that are just there?

Opportunities include your mindset, too. We must be open not only to the opportunities that come along but to the opportunities that are always there. With the right mindset, we will recognize them.

During my three weeks out of routine, I fell into the trap of not recognizing an opportunity when I had it.

What Every Child Dreams Of - A Snow Day

My youngest son commented that his nieces were getting what he only dreamed of.

Living further south while he was growing up, we were lucky to experience a dusting of snow. The girls had inches and a day off from school!

A child sees many opportunities on a snow day. I only saw the chance to take a picture and be trapped in the house. How do my friends in Buffalo, New York, do this every year for days?

I was letting my circumstances control my mindset.

I needed to look for opportunities instead of being upset with the disruption of my routine.

Recognize and Act on What You Can Do

How often have I said, “If I only had time?”

It seems a snow day gave me time, and I didn’t see the opportunities.

I was bored. Why didn’t I recognize the opportunity to create? Aren’t I always wishing for the time to do that?

Now was the time to work on the framing projects I started. My dining room/crafting table is cleaned off with room to work.
I could make more progress on the cross-stitch project I plan to have finished by the end of 2025.
I could read! (I always get newsletter ideas from reading.)

My mindset was the missing factor.

Now that I’ve found it, all I have to do is choose to take action.

7 Days, 7 Thoughts on Gratitude and Good:

If you look closely at the picture above (just to the right of the green hollies), you will see the snowman our neighbors built. This article tells you more about what you need to build a snowman. ☃️
The snowman has a long history. Here’s a brief version.
When you are not accustomed to snow, it only takes a few inches to throw you out of routine.
I am grateful for snow because of its beauty and because it reminds me to appreciate weather that’s easier for me to get out in. ❄️❄️
It’s good to have the mindset of a child on a snow day. Where an adult sees snow as an inconvenience, children see it as a blank slate.
If we can control our mindset, inconveniences become opportunities.
A quote: ‘And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.’ –in Billy and The Minpins by Roald Dahl. In other words, be on the lookout for opportunities. 🤩

Bonus Thought: I wrote about “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” in Take Pen to Paper: Edition 13.

Thank you for reading. Have you had a snow day this year?

Until next time,

💚

Susan

What is on your list of snow day activities? Leave a comment and let me know. I would love to read about them.

Take Pen to Paper