I had planned on writing a new diatribe on spam email and the sudden poor performance of my junk mail filter when I came to a realization and that brought my brain to a screeching halt. (Yes, I actually heard it screech!) “Isn’t there enough doom and despair in the world today without you adding to it?” I asked myself. Oddly,I even answered myself. “Damn skippy!” I said. I have no idea what that meant or still means but I decided to forgo the aforementioned diatribe for something more peaceful, more happy, more joyful. 

You will recall last month I touched on the topic of joy. I mentioned a few beliefs I held about joy and wrapped it up with the profound, “I do believe it is up to us to find the joy.” As we enter the second half of January, we are stepping into what is typically the coldest time of the year in my neck of the woods. My neck of the suburbs also. It’s not unusual to find people throwing open their curtains and blinds early every morning, look out across the expanse of gray from frigid sky above to salt stained snow below, and greet the morning with a hearty, “oh hell no,” and climb back into bed. But overlaying that gloom a light shines. That light is the sun. For as cold and gray and gloomy the outside world is at this time of year, it is also growing daylight, extending evening, building hope as we finally have proof positive that longer days are coming.

Churches have seized on this phenomenon of hope growing within the gloom of midwinter. Many congregations observe a daily moment or meditation in gratitude for the lighter, warmer days ahead, days that dispel the gloom. We can also seize the moment, or at least seize a moment every morning and find a joyful thought, a hopeful idea, or a thankful word and make that our mantra for the day. We can replace the gloom with hope. And we would do well to do so.

This time of year is when I experience my particularly vulnerable moments. January holds the most unpleasant memories that I also celebrate as anniversaries so I can move past the vulnerability. January memories include all the worst one can hope never to happen from a cancer diagnosis, to when I was certain I lost my best friend because of pride and arrogance on my part. The cancer was ten years ago and although it took years of surgeries and procedures I am quite past that now. It was neither the worst thing that happened nor that from which I made my greatest recovery.

January is also the anniversary of some great things. It was January three years ago the I had my last dialysis treatment, a remarkable feat for someone who had recently lost a transplanted kidney. My best friend is still my best friend and and even a stronger bond now exists because a year later, in January, I was able to see how we can grow together even while others enter our previously closed circle.

Midwinter, mid-January is indeed still gloomy outside, gray clouds blocking the sun’s struggling light as it tries to warm earth’s surface. And the memories of many past Januarys draw a shade in my mind, potentially blocking out other happier memories. But here is even more. The sun is going to continue shining and the earth is going to continue its march around that sun to allow the days to grow longer and brighter and warmer. And there will always be a possibility that something else quite positive, very happy, even downright joyful is waiting to happen to further counteract the gloomy memories in my mind.

Indeed we should each morning go to the windows and throw open our blinds and our curtains and look out at the expanse before us and say quite heartily, “something wonderful is going to happen today and it is going to happen to me.” Replace the gloom with joy, even a joy not yet realized. We will do well to do so.

You know It’s better when everyone wins! Last week on Uplift! at ROAMcare we dared you to be better together! Read how here.