17 below zero may sound cold, and it is, but 35 below and more is colder!! Those were the temps a day or so ago.Either way, we can relate when a person simply says, "Brr." A person certainly must bundle up when going out in these temperatures. Cuddle duds, insulated boots, warm gloves, sometimes even hand warmers help quite a bit. Dreams and conversations of warmer weather certainly become the headlines, don't they?On the same topic of cold, however, have you ever experienced someone in your life who decided to give you the "cold shoulder", refusing to speak to you or hold a decent conversation? What do we do with situations like that? Hopefully, they don't happen too often, but when they do, it's a real challenge.
I remember working with someone, and because of his skin color and foreign accent encountered these situations quite regularly. He told me that he just loved them all the more, continued speaking to them and didn't retaliate in kind to the behavior. It sounded great but oh, so hard to do when it's "me" (or you).
How do each of us deal with a "cold shoulder"? Have we come to the resolve to "do the next right thing" as the 12 Step Program of AA proposes, making sure our "side of the street is clean"? This can be translated many ways with the details. Does it mean speaking when we'd like to ignore or be cold back? I don't think so.
It takes a lot of energy to protect ourselves from further cold, frostbite and danger but how can we be in the weather, enjoy it to a certain degree but not do harm. It's a challenge but the temperatures eventually get warmer, even if the cold days are really cold! We can continue to say, "Brr", in various situations or do something that just may help the relationship warm up!
