As I sit and write this, I look out into the night sky through the window right above my desk. I see the snow falling; a driveway that will need clearing in the morning, the impending reality that traffic will probably be a mess on the way into work tomorrow and the potential that spring will be delayed that much longer.

As I sit and write this, I look out into the night sky through the window right above my desk. I see the snow falling; how silent and still it seems outside, how the tree branches are shimmering beautifully white and that it almost feels like it could be Christmas, again, in a couple of weeks.

Are either of those paragraphs any less true than the other? Does the perspective in either of those paragraphs cancel the other out? No, to both. But, one of those narratives makes my Heart smile. And so, today, I choose the one that does that.

This is life. This is the choice we all have, each and every day, with each and every experience. We can choose to see the traffic jam or we can choose to see the shimmering beauty. And yes, I know, life can feel like a blizzard at times, for all of us. But, that doesn’t mean you can’t be in the storm and still experience something beautiful; something that lifts your Heart.

It’s too easy of an excuse to blame the storm; to place fault. Instead of finding fault, why not accept the responsibility to yourself, to your Heart, to see past the tough stuff through to what’s good. And, there’s always lots of good if you’re just willing to look. Finding the positive won’t necessarily stop the storm but it will certainly make the experience easier to navigate.

Choosing what’s uplifting amidst the challenges is what strengthens your Heart. It re-wires how you see what you see, how you feel what you feel and how you react to what you react to. Making the choice to let your Heart smile when it feels like you have every reason not to, is what true resolve is. It’s what really supports your true Self.

And, like anything else that you practice and become stronger at, it gets easier; you can handle more. Life’s challenges will not miraculously evaporate, no matter how positive or optimistic you can be. But, choosing to be positive and optimistic, choosing to see everything beautiful around you, will only enrich those challenges and your success through them.

Truthfully, this isn’t really even about ‘strengthening your resolve’ or ‘positive thinking’, it’s just about lifting your Heart up to the level it’s at; to lifting your Self up to the level you deserve to be at. It’s focusing on the beauty; appreciating the simplicity of what’s around you; finding every little (and big) reason to smile.

Just because there’s a storm outside, doesn’t mean you have to go stand in it.

Be Love.