As spring approaches, I want to take a few moments to appreciate winter.

Winter is my least favorite season, and this year, I felt like it was in no hurry to leave. I don’t like complaining about our days of thirty-degree weather. After all, I know that people who live up north have had to deal with below freezing temperatures and an unfortunate amount of snow. But despite the differences on our thermometers, our experiences of “being cold” are all valid.  We all go through winter. Sometimes winter means navigating over ice or feeling a chill in our bones. At other times, it means that life looks colorless or we begin to forget what warmth in our souls feels like.

Is there anything beautiful or meaningful about those times?

I’d be lying if I said that it was easy for me to appreciate winter. I’m not one of those people who “can’t wait for the cold.” I’m not very good at imagining warmth or color when I can’t find any traces of it. I know what hopelessness feels like, and it’s something I’ve tried to avoid.

But as I look back on colder days, I can appreciate what I took away from those times. . . . Strength. Patience. Perseverance. Faith. Inspiration. An appreciation for beauty, with all of its mysterious intricacy.

I found these beautiful quotes about winter, and I wanted to share them. I’d also love to hear from you. What value have you found in winter?

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.”
― Anne Bradstreet

“Thank goodness for the first snow, it was a reminder–no matter how old you became and how much you’d seen, things could still be new if you were willing to believe they still mattered.”
― Candace Bushnell

“What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.”
― John Steinbeck

“Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.”
― Edith Sitwell