But it’s so _______. Insert your weather whiny word in the blank. In the winter, in the Midwest, I usually use words like cold, windy, freezing, icy, or snowy. Maybe in your location or time of year you’ll change those words to hot, humid, rainy, or stormy.

Basically we are creatures of comfort and my comfortable temp is partly sunny and 70 degrees. But that particular weather happens about three hours a year. If I waited to enjoy the outdoors until it was perfect, my concept of perfect, I’d be inside all the time.

So suck it up and do whatever’s necessary to get outside for some time every day. Buy the clothing you need to help you stay warm (or cool), invest in good walking shoes, find a walking buddy or build in some accountability somewhere, even reward yourself after a particularly nasty day but Get. Outside.

As a child I played outside all the time. Usually by myself because my sweet little sister wasn’t the tomboy I was. I tromped through the woods, jumped the creek, rode my horse, played in the barn, walked back and forth the quarter mile from my house to my grandma’s all day long. Somewhere in my growing up I lost my fascination with the outdoors and ended up 30 lbs overweight in my 40s. It was when I started working full time that I again came to realize the mental, emotional, and physical benefits of a walk outside. And I rarely miss a day now.

Besides dropping those extra pounds, I’ve gained a fresh perspective. And reconnected to the God who created the world around me.

My almost-60 year old self is looking forward to warmer days but I’ll persevere through the snowy and blustery ones too. My Creator God gave me a big world, with beauty to discover every day, in every type of weather.