I'm really not the one to talk to about your seasonal affect disorder, because no matter how we hash it out, I just don't get it. Stick me in a place where I have an awesome community of friends, plus my awesome husband, and I don't care if I'm in the middle of a barren, treeless desert... I'm content.
I'm starting to wonder if I can survive the midwest for the rest of my life... not because of the weather, but because of people complaining about the weather. I'm no saint when it comes to complaining, but man, people are competing for the winter gold out here (you see what I did there? winter gold? ... anyway...). I guess I can break my frustration into 2 categories: people who are upset about the weather, and people who can't stay in one place for more than a few months at a time. I suppose the latter more has to do with the observation that my generation is constantly looking at the greener grass on the other side... of the country. Or wherever they want to move. But then you're getting into my whole argument that people are people and places are places, everywhere you go... moving won't make you content. But that's a whole other enchilada, if you will.
No, my main concentration has to be with the seasonally challenged. When I hear their complaints and think about it, I try to put myself in their shoes... to mentally place myself in my least favorable weather and geographical location... which I suppose would be the very southwestern area of the US. A desolate, dry, hot desert with nothing but cacti and trees that look like cacti. Would I feel the same way? Try as I do, I just can't picture my feelings being the same. The main difference is that my heart and contentment aren't really swayed by my surroundings, but lay in the community of friends I'm placed in, and my commitment to serve the Lord. If I had an awesome group of friends and a church I could serve in, I could take the bad and less favorable parts of where I live. And even as much as I detest LA, if I had felt that God was calling us to stay there, it would be fine. I can honestly say that. I hated the traffic, the egos, the pavement, the pollution... but who cares? WHO CARES?! All those things I could have overlooked, had I been called to stay and serve in a rad community.
I'll smile and bite my tongue when I hear the complaints, the desire to flit about the country in search of the perfect place to settle down, but I'll never understand any of it. Find a place, a group, a community... shake off the unfavorable parts, and commit to love. The crappy parts will start to not look so bad.
