Winter! The bleak season of the year. It’s cold. It’s unpleasant and lasts way too long. People either lock themselves in their homes or spend months thousands of miles away from their homes in response to the cold. It is the “Winter of Discontent.” Then there are those who look forward to winter, who rush out into the cold, who feast in the nakedness of winter, when all the trees are bare. It is for them the most delightful of seasons. They are content. As with most things in life, the reality is what we make it.

The phrase “winter of our discontent” was first used in the play Richard III by William Shakespeare. While many who hear the phrase interpret it as a lament referring to the gloom of winter. Seasonal affective disorder is a type of depression that many suffer during the winter months. For Shakespeare, the phrase was not a lament, but rather it is a forward-thinking statement of hope. Like the seasons, the tough times that happen in life will pass. There will always be struggles in life, some even of our own choosing.

Check out a gym sometime and see how many people are pushing resistance to the maximum in order to improve their strength and stamina. The thrill of victory erases the temporary discomfort. Everyone determines the affect and the outcome.

The winter of discontent can also express our spiritual, as well as our emotional condition. There may be times when God is viewed as cold and bitter, when hope isn’t even a remote possibility. Saint John of the cross termed it “the dark night of the soul.” God is nowhere to be found, all hope is lost, and all effort is futile. Depression on the spiritual level can be devastating, but it can also be a motivation to reach a new understanding of the spiritual power possessed by the children of God. The spirit can become stronger when the trials and tribulations faced are seen as weights in the gym or resistance levels on the treadmill. When viewed as challenges and not obstacles, when faced head on and not surrendered to in defeat, the spirit grows stronger and the spiritual stamina triumphs. Just as a personal trainer can guide you in the gym, find a spiritual trainer to guide you on your spiritual journey.

January is often considered the dead of winter, but it is the first month of the year; it’s a new beginning. In January the days are once again getting longer, and nature is preparing for a new cycle of life. In January resolutions are made that will improve the quality of daily living. January is the perfect time to make spiritual resolutions, to resolve to accept the challenges of life as invitations to grow. To resolve to let hope and faith be our daily workout. Calling upon the strength of God’s love, winter can be a season of complete contentment.

God bless!