Reasons Why it’s Actualy Spring Right Now
Ok. I know I'm expressing a pretty common sentiment here, but I am really sick of Winter.
Tired. Tired of 30 degree mornings and 40 degree afternoons. Sick of not being able to be outside for more than a few minutes without feeling like a popsicle and tired of having the occasional 50 degree day ruined by the fact that whenever it actually gets to be 50 or above, it becomes windy enough to blow Godzilla back to Tokyo.
For readers of the Right Thing from other, warmer parts of the country, shut up and enjoy yourselves. Some of us are still shivering.
Yes, I'm aware that technically, it's still Winter, but I think it's high time we started feeling like it was Spring. And when I say 'feeling,' I don't mean physically feeling warmer, I mean thinking differently about the approach of the coming season.
Dig it: In theory, we have four seasons of three months apiece. Duh. I know.
So, roughly speaking, Summer is June, July and August. Fall is September, October and November. Winter is December, January and February and Spring, in theory, is March, April and May.
In truth (according to the calendar), the transition points lie somewhere towards the end of the latest month in the above grid. That is, Spring actually starts this year on March 20th. But that doesn't really matter, does it? No one cares what the calendar says. Perception is the key. Our attitude is really the deciding factor. The new seasons arrive when we perceive them to be here.
For example, Fall doesn't start until late in September. But that's garbage. After Labor Day, it just starts to FEEL like the Fall, even if it's still in the 80's. Winter doesn't 'officially' begin until the end of December. But this too is garbage. Everybody knows that after Thanksgiving, people are thinking about Christmas and it just FEELS like Winter, even if it really isn't.
But with Spring, we get hosed. Because of Easter falling at a different time each year (something pastors the world over would love to change, by the way), there is no set point when we start 'feeling' like Spring is here. The mental shift happens only when the mercury climbs and the winds die down a bit.
But to the calendar and to the mercury, I say pooh. If I say goodbye to the Summer after August and goodbye to the Fall after November, I'm saying goodbye to Winter after February. Am I aware that sometimes it still snows in March? Sure. Just like it sometimes hits 90 in September. But it's a parting shot. Winter's pretty much dead. It just doesn't know it yet.
So, I am officially making the shift. In my mind, it is Springtime. Not quite ready to break out the coppertone, but my shorts and flip flops will be making an appearance soon. And I will revel in all the warm summery goodness to come, without spending another ounce of my energy wishing that winter would hurry up and leave.
Why? Because as cheesy as it may sound, your attitude really does determine your altitude. Or at least greatly affect it. 
So how's your attitide been lately? Down in the dumps? Mopey? Complaing? List your blessings and start to thank God one at a time for each of them. Even the ones that are not yet felt but are still, at this point, a promise. God will deliver, as surely as Spring will follow Winter.
To everything, there is a season and a time to every purpose under Heaven.
Preaching through Ecclesiastes right now. Could you tell?
Thanks for reading peeps.
Talk to you soon.
Bert
