It may not be the prettiest, but March is the month that makes us.
It’s the time of year that teaches us to be resilient, patient, gritty.
Winter is easy at the beginning, when it’s all fluffy blankets of snow, fuzzy mittens and Wisconsin looking like a brilliant winter wonderland. But by March, our boots are soggy, the skies are gray and the snow has become that weird mix of ice, slush and dirt. And no amount of hygge can offset the feeling that we are so incredibly over it.
But we need March. We need to endure the tail end of winter at its least loveliest, to think we can’t do it and then see that we can. To grit it out because we’ll be tougher for it.
After racking up a few Marches, you’re hardier not just physically but also mentally and emotionally. Your kids start to develop this strength, stamina and resiliency that just doesn’t happen everywhere. And they begin to grow into the people others turn to when things get tough, or situations seem impossible.
And March teaches us to look. Just when it seems winter will never end, we notice subtle signs of change. A bit of green poking through the thawing ground, the chirp of a bird even though another snowstorm is on the way, an afternoon when the wind has a hint of warmth. Tiny things that remind us that a new season is on its way.
After all, spring would be far less sweet if it didn’t follow the gray and grittiness of March.