These are the last bits and pieces from our trip... Right now I'm in arctic Finland, surrounded by snow, frosty weather and candlelight, so going through these pictures felt refreshing and distant at the same time. Only if you have experienced a full-on winter, one that lasts longer than three months (sometimes closer to five), you know how much weather can affect your mood. I lived my childhood in Austria and still remember how shocked I was after moving back to Finland when slowly each day got shorter until there was only a few hours of daylight left. Maybe because I knew about a better place, I developed a sour attitude and simply hated living in this Sun forsaken place for almost half of the year and only came to life when the first summer days arrived at our shores. Even though seasonal depression is a real thing (might sound made-up, but when you experience this darkness…), at some point I realised I was just making my own life more miserable. By constantly cursing at how dreadful everything was I only created first world problems that weren't even worth fretting about. Honestly, I perceived myself powerless to my circumstances and shifted the blame of my misery to everything else except my attitude and I did this with all negative things in my life. It did take a moment for me understand this completely, but my thoughts and my words do make a difference in how I feel and I how I will go about with my life.
My mother introduced me to Viktor E. Frankl years ago. One of my favourite quotes from him is:
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
This is not by some random neurologist and psychiatrist (although he was both). This man was a holocaust survivor. These thoughts were spoken after his time at the Auschwitz concentration camp and after loosing his whole family including his wife. What he understood in the most horrific circumstances was that he, and only he can be in control of himself. Even after he was stripped off all freedom and rights, no one or nothing else could take away his will unless he gave it to them freely. He got to choose who he is and who he will be.
You might have something far worse going on in your life than a dreadful, never-ending winter. But I want to encourage you, that no matter what it is, you're not just helplessly hanging on on the receiving end, having to just take anything that life throws at you.
You are in charge of yourself. You get to choose whether your circumstances define you or if you define your circumstances. You choose to either be a victim or a powerful person.
I know I've been a slow poster, but good things are worth the wait, right? :) My intention is to rather post when I honestly feel like I have something to say instead of coming up with all kinds of randomness just to keep you readers busy. But I'll try to speed up my game and keep the creative juices flowing more often than once a month!
xxx
Photos by me and my husband in Santa Monica, CA
