I used to complain about the weather. I hate cold weather. I’m not alone in complaining. There are people who live in tropical area and complain when the temperature drops below 20 degrees celsius. It is not cold. They might be feeling cold. It is two different thing. I managed to stop complaining about the weather after reading Mark Manson say how it was a waste of time. Probably in his book The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A F*ck
The weather is just one thing we love to whinge about that is out of our control. We can’t change the weather patterns. All we can do is change our environment so we are somewhere that better suits our preference. For me that is warm sunny days. I really can’t understand anyone who enjoys cold weather! I guess it’s good there are some, otherwise my favourite beaches would be too crowded.
No place is absolutely perfect.
Some of the other things are traffic, noise, toxic people and similar. The common theme being they are all things outside our sphere of control. When I stay in Hawaii the sirens and rubbish truck noise really annoys me. Each visit it takes a few days for me to get used to them again. I can’t stop them. For me the benefits outweigh the drawbacks, so I have to turn off from them.
Could I put up with it permanently? Not so sure. That’s a benefit of being a permanent traveller. When I move to the next location the sirens and rubbish truck noise disappears. Usually there will be something else. No place is absolutely perfect.
Therein lies the benefit of travel. I have become much more in tune with what I like and don’t like. It wasn’t until I started living only in warm places did I realise just how much of a negative affect cold weather has on me. For various reasons over the last couple of years I have ended up being in places during the cooler weather. The motivation to exercise reduces and in turn that leads to less quality sleep, less desire to sit and concentrate on work and other flow on effects.
Sometimes I am fortunate and the plans are even more flexible. When I first moved to the US the plan was to spend the first winter at a friend’s place in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Roughly mid-December to the end of March. I had spent the summer and autumn in Florida so it had been hot. I loved the weather even with the high humidity. Being an Australian I don’t really equate beaches with cold weather. I know, there are some. I just didn’t visit them during winter.
Around the middle of February the colder weather was getting to me. I managed to fit a bike in the back of my car and didn’t use it once. All I could manage was a run a couple of times a week. One day I went for a coffee and the water feature was frozen. Another day I woke up to snow. That was a first for me. I had never woken up to snow ever.
That was when I spoke to my friend and said I would be leaving early and heading back to Florida. I found a place for the month of March and left. The weird thing was the temperature changed almost instantly when I crossed the Georgia/Florida state line. The winter clothes I had to buy up there have barely been worn since.
How to stop complaining
- Think about the last time you complained about the weather
- Is thinking about the weather affecting your mood in a negative way