It's pretty darn cold right now here in Edmonton, Alberta. Yesterday the temperature was a frigid -38 celcius and with the wind chill factor that totalled to a icy -47 degrees below zero. Enough to freeze your bones through your skin. Most people were having issues with their cars not starting and everyone needs to wear multiple layers of clothing and winter wear to avoid frostbite and physical exhaustion from their bodies generating enough heat to survive, especially for anyone who has to wait outside for a bus. It should be a few degrees less cold by the end of the week.
I love it!
Seriously. I wouldn't want it everyday and I am as thrilled as everyone else when spring finally comes along, but I love the toughness that we build in ourselves by facing this extreme cold. Sure, living somewhere tropical by the beach is absolutely wonderful... but take that person off the beach and into a country with ice and snow and you will never hear the end of the moaning and complaining.
I once remember watching a special on the Discovery Channel which showed monks meditating in Tibet in the middle of winter. What they did that was so special was that they first soaked their bed sheets in ice water and then wrapped them around their nearly naked bodies as they sat down. All of them would chant their mantras and soon steam would rise from the soaked bed sheets as the monks increased their body temperature enough to heat the icy water. After a little while the monks would then stand up, fold, and put away their now dry bed sheets. Their bodies would be warm and dry as well. Another test was to sleep outside in the mountain on the coldest night of the year with only their own thin monk's robe as a blanket. In the morning they would shake the snow off of themselves, wrap the robe around their bodies and walk back down to the monastery. They didn't even shiver.
If they can do it, it means we all can. We just have to learn how.
I'm just making a generalization about the cold here, because you can surely find tough people all around the world, but living and working in the cold is one of the best ways I know to force people to place their attention totally in the present moment.
Think about it. If you don't pay attention to what's happening with your body in every moment when it's -47 degrees outside, you could very well lose a limb or freeze to death. To survive, you must dress according to the conditions and monitor your body to know just how much you can take before it's time to go back inside. The same is true for driving and taking care of your home and vehicle. You must drive according to the conditions or you will have an accident. Your car must be well taken car of so that it will run. Your home must be well insulated and maintained.
When you take something to an extreme, you either make it or brake it. The trick is to be prepared and to plan ahead. When you are ready for something, you can thrive in any environment and in any circumstance. Whether it be the extreme cold, heat, humidity, dryness, war, famine, the economy, or whatever. As an old samurai axiom goes:
Expect nothing, be prepared for anything.
What can YOU do to learn to thrive in your environment?
Love it for the lessons it brings.
CHB
PS. That's a picture of Canmore in December.
Copyright © Charles Begin
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