Do you want to build a snowman? (No, not really. But wait, maybe?)

I have a problem. (I have many problems; I'm being specific.)

I live in Minnesota, and I'm afraid of snow and ice.

I'm afraid of snow and ice the way some people are afraid of snakes or spiders or public speaking.

Let's say you are afraid of snakes. REALLY afraid of snakes.

Imagine you live where, for six months of the year (on average) there are snakes covering the ground.

In the parking lots.
On the streets.
Writhing around on your sidewalk and your porch.

Falling from the sky!

OMG, they are falling from the sky!

That's how I feel when it snows.

Except this year, I decided I'd had enough with being afraid of snow.

Let's get specific.

I'm afraid of falling.
Because...?

Because I fall a lot, when there is snow or ice on the ground beneath my feet.

I'm afraid of getting in an accident.
Because...?

Because I've skidded off the road or gotten in accidents or slid into the ditch a lot.

But, you know what?

LIES!

Facts:

1.) Since getting my new boots with the inserts in them that help my feet balance better, I have NOT FALLEN ONCE! That means, so far, I have not fallen (due to ice or snow) in over a year.

2.) I have lived many, MANY more days of my life NOT falling. Like, most of them.

3.) I haven't ended up in the ditch or even fish-tailed while driving in snowy conditions in well over a decade. TEN YEARS AND COUNTING!

4.) If I made it through last winter, I can survive ANY winter.

So I'm focusing on those facts, rather than the over-zealous opinions of my unwarranted fears.

There are also a few actual bonuses to winter! Yes, that's right. BONUSES!

1.) I see my brother and his family more in the winter months (Thanksgiving and Christmas and Easter all fall under the Winter Umbrella around here).

2.) I have SO MANY cute winter clothes I can wear!

3.) No sweating! (Okay, LESS sweating. I get hot flashes, and that causes sweating. And I sweat when I exercise, like most human beings. But I don't sweat while sitting on a park bench, in the winter. Of course, I don't sit on many park benches in the winter, but I digress....)

4.) I'm on awesome medication (something I wasn't on last winter).

So, really, I'm doing alright.

Snow has no power over me.

It's just SNOW, for cryin' out loud! Jeez, Stenholtz, get a grip!

Unless it turned into a raging snow beast because Elsa got upset and used her Snow Queen magical powers to attack me. But, I just wanted to build a snowman. :-(

Happy New Year!

I am not joining a gym.

I am taking a belly dance class instead.

I am not starting a new diet.

I am returning to the way I was eating when I was healthiest. (No more cookie baking for awhile!)

I am not going to quit smoking.

I am going to continue smoking and therefore not kill anyone.

I am not going to try new hobbies.

I am going to continue working on and improving the projects I already have going.

I am not going to pare down my Facebook friends list to only those who interact with me daily.

I am going to attempt to be more present to my friends and their lives, both on FB and in real life.

I am not going to stop being who I am.

I am going to keep moving forward with being the me I'm supposed to be.

The Papa, The Mama, and Moi.

Happy New Year, from the StuntGirl.