Gray Turns to Light

During the bleak gray days of January I find it more difficult to keep in a positive frame of mind. The good news is that now, I am more likely to notice immediately when my mood starts being less than sunny. When sadness threatens, I return to the practice of stopping, exhaling, and giving thought to how I am going to deal with the gray cloud threatening to descend. This winter has been better than previous years and I have gotten used to feeling sunny even on gray days. So, at this moment I am choosing to say no; I do not want to sink into that gray abyss. “Continue noticing the breath and move ahead one step at a time” I tell myself.

I have just returned from a long walk in the rain. Luckily it was not a downpour, but there was the continual light rain which is pretty normal for Portland. As I walked, I noticed some people with umbrellas, but most without and many dogs even had raincoats. It is never boring walking around our city, and it is always helpful to be outdoors, even in the rain, when gray days descend. Now, though, as I look out at the sky from my dining room, I see light gray with darker gray and the darker clouds are moving East fairly fast. It is fascinating to watch them move. These clouds are low and mask some of the nearby hills. Like those gray clouds moving across the sky to reveal the brightness beneath, so the gray mood has shifted towards a more positive place. The days are getting longer and we move, one day at a time, toward spring.

What a surprise! I have gazed again out the window and notice the blue sky with fast moving white clouds amongst the gray. Beautiful wisps of white swirls on the heels of gray puffs. A swift reminder that in the gray of winter there will be patches of brightness to lift the spirits. As it is with the sky and clouds, gray turns to light.

Stop-Breathe-Onward