Instead of “How does winter affect your mood,” how about “How do you create the emotion you want?”

March 5, 2015 by Joshua
in Models, Nature, Perception

It’s snowing heavily and people are complaining the winter has been long.

It’s as if people know the saying

Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

and then forget it when things they can’t change happen.

What’s the point of knowing the words of phrases but not learning how to do them?

The point of reading Man’s Search For Meaning or other stories of people overcoming tremendous obstacles is not to keep feeling horrible when things don’t go my way. The point is to know that when the outside world doesn’t go my way, I know that since other people overcame greater challenges, I can too!

There’s nothing special about me.

I saw these posts on a thread complaining online. They’re complaining as if they are powerless to do anything about how they feel.

  • Overcast, sunless days, one after the other; that’s THE WORST.
  • Normally I’m fine with winter but this past one has been a killer. It’s not been the weather (although I have been more bothered by the rain than usual) but the hours of daylight. Seeing the sun go down at 4pm pretty much made me want to cry. Sunset is around 6pm now, which I feel is the beginning of acceptable. I’ve never felt this way before this winter but for whatever reason it’s been really tough.
  • I find winters very hard.  Our winters are very drab and gray in Ontario.  There has been very little sun this season and it definitely makes it harder to function.  Even on the days that aren’t overcast (hallelujah!), they are short and cold and snowy and wet and miserable.
  • And plenty more just like it…

It takes work to change your emotions, but you can. If you feel miserable, do something about it. Or enjoy your misery.

I guess that’s why I refer so much to my Model and Method, and use them. They show you why you have the emotional system you do, why you feel the emotions you do, and what to do about it. I guess I used to feel powerless to change my emotions. You don’t have to be, though.

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