Blessings, Change and Transformation

If April Showers Bring May Flowers, What Do April Snowstorms Bring?

A white winter wonderland greeted us this morning. It’s April 9 and snow covers my newly reinstalled patio furniture. Snow blankets everything…the ground, the trees, the pot of pansies on the front stoop. It’s falling so heavily I barely see the house across the street. Even the Chicago Cubs have called a snow day for their baseball home opener.

On one hand, it’s beautiful. Peaceful and Pristine. A clean, blank slate. Yet it feels so uncomfortably out of place. How does one embrace this when it’s April? April!

If the calendar said December? I’d be all swoony and excited.

It’s hard to stay positive when things go against predicted plans. After all, April in Chicago means more than just the return of baseball. It’s the packing away of winter coats for windbreakers and trading snow blowers for lawn mowers. April signals open-toed sandals, short sleeved shirts, an evening drink on the deck with neighbors you haven’t seen since Halloween. April revives our Midwestern souls and provides hope for the warmth of summer.

Instead, today’s snow feels like a test. It seems to say despite my attempts to plan, predict, and control outcomes, I don’t get the final say in anything. Suddenly I’m reminded I’m not in charge.

This natural event, and how we choose to deal with it, says a lot. Will we complain? Shift our perspective? Shake our head in disbelief or our fist at the sky? How readily can we accept when something unpredictable comes our way?

I’ve decided to forget it’s April. If the world was void of calendars and seasons, I’d see the beauty of this snow just for what it is: gentle, pristine, and peaceful. Unexpected and a bit inconvenient, perhaps, but I’ll pretend it’s a holiday gift lost in the mail; a surprise arriving months late. That way, I celebrate its beauty as it is rather than how I think it should arrive.

Don’t we all want that? To be enough as we are, even when unexpected and out of season?

The old Chicago adage, “If you don’t like the weather, stick around; it will change” rings true as our first 60-degree day is predicted later this week. But I won’t let this lesson get lost. Sometimes what seems to be out of place, out of time, and out of plan reminds me to change my perspective. It’s unfolding as it’s supposed to unfold. Everything is simply what it is. How I choose to accept it?  That is the only part truly up to me.

 

 

 

6 thoughts on “If April Showers Bring May Flowers, What Do April Snowstorms Bring?”

  1. Peggy says:

    I love your thoughts re this. It’s so true. We all need to “accept the things we cannot change”. It makes life so much easier! Love you ?. Peggy

    1. Katie O'Connell says:

      Indeed it does make life easier! Thanks so much!

  2. Sally says:

    Beautifully crafted as always Katie.

  3. Maureen says:

    Love this message. I, too, was conflicted about the snow and chose, in part, to enjoy it’s beauty. I returned in my mind to how the first snow takes my breath away each year and I enjoyed that place. As I ran errands, I took in the particular beauty of this type of snow, how it seems almost sprayed perfectly on tree branches. So lovely. Then, later, I enjoyed venting about it with my nail tech — it also felt good to let it all out, how we are done with this white stuff and ready for spring! I enjoyed “being” in both places yesterday. Go Cubs!

  4. Karen Carlson says:

    Love the perspective on who is in charge? I often pretend I’m in charge, then a reality check usually bubbles up. I didn’t mind the snow although it did surprise me that morning. The nice thing is that it didn’t last . . . and maybe that is part of the lesson. Not to get too attached to our disappointment or discomfort. It will pass. Thanks Katie.

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