Learning to Let Go and Watch the Snowflakes Fall

I'm taking this opportunity, this snowy, windy, cancelled-class day in Jerusalem to do a little reflection.



Last night, as I listened to a few of my friends wish for snow, so work and school would be cancelled, I found myself thinking very responsibly, "But we've missed so much school already anyway from the professor's strike and the other snow day." Then, I thought to myself, "But a day off in the middle of the week would be nice." Going back and forth for a few minutes, I couldn't really decide what I wanted--snow, no snow, school, no school.

But then I realized, "Oh yeah, I guess it doesn't matter what I want, it's not really my decision anyways." And that was a freeing thought, one that I've had recently in relation to a few stressful situations in my life. There are steps we can take to influence outcomes, that is for sure. We can work hard now to hopefully benefit later. We can plan well so as to provide for a safer, more secure future. But there are forces outside of us that affect our lives in ways we could never imagine. Whether it be the stock market, a megalomaniac to the East, or an unsafe driver, there are a million things we could never see coming that could alter our situations in some way.

Conclusion? Appreciate the (s)now. I must say, as a native Floridian, snow is neither my area of expertise or my cup of tea. I have no childhood memories of building any snow creatures but a very anorexic snowman one winter in the mid-1990s. In other words, it's mainly a nuisance--a somewhat pretty nuisance, but also a darn cold and wet nuisance. Sitting here, though, instead of on the number 30 bus to the university, holding my book-laden backpack in my lap and trying not to freeze to death or get dripped on from the leaky window, is something that I can appreciate.

I can appreciate that, at least for today, there will be a nice news story in the newspapers, accompanied by pictures of kids throwing snowballs not rocks. So, it's a little bit cold and wet, but I can handle the change for a day.