Snow Shoveling: One of Life’s Great Pleasures
What do you mean, you don’t agree?
Before we get into the discussion which will start with me laying out my case, I need to provide two important disclaimers:
I wrote this last year. Not that it matters to the story, other than the factual matter that it did not snow the day after my birthday this year. You will see why that is relevant in just a minute.
Snow shoveling is not for everyone. Not that I am walking back my original claim. However I am strongly suggesting that people with cardiovascular, lung or other physical conditions should not cancel their snow plow service(like I actually did) without discussing with a medical professional. This does not include a Google search routing you to WebMD.
Let me begin by admitting…I understand. Many of my friends from the north are thinking I have lost my mind. And those from the South have no idea to be able to judge my mental capacity with regard to this topic. If you have never had the pleasure of the snow shoveling experience please live vicariously through me and the short story I am about to tell.
It’s the day after my 68th birthday and I woke up to the view of an unexpected overnight snowfall. My first two thoughts were- wow, this is beautiful, as I stared out the window enjoying my first cup of coffee. And, for my second thought- today is going to be a good day because I get to shovel snow.
I am the guy that hires a snow plow service but shovels my driveway myself because I don’t want to wait until the service arrives. Yes, I am “that guy”. Oh, and I own a snow shovel(the yellow one in the picture), no fancy snowblower which would make the job so much easier. I have already wasted money on the service why pay for a snowblower. And by now you may be thinking- this guy is nuts!
I have finished my two cups of coffee and scarfed down my green powder health drink, but delayed any food because I am doing the intermittent fasting thing, no calories until 10:00.
Now it’s time. The snow is calling out to me. Nobody is buying this yet, are you? There is nothing good about shoveling snow, is there? Please stay with me, the actual story is about to start explaining my POV on why snow shoveling is one of life’s great pleasures.
First I am out in the cold. As we know the cold temperatures have very positive effects on our bodies cellular function. It strengthens our immune system, increases autophagy, and even improves brain function and focus. Off to a good start.
Second, and this one is obvious, snow shoveling is a great full body workout- arms, back, core, legs. When I am done I feel the burn everywhere. As good as the gym without the drive.
Next is flow. A little shout out to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and his best selling book appropriately named Flow. Snow shoveling- a problem turned into an opportunity, with suggestions for process improvement. Did you know there are at least three ways to shovel a circle driveway and the best way depends on the depth and weight of the snow. There may be more, room for discovery. I love watching the progress, immediate feedback, all part of the “flow” process.
I even get my brain involved. Between the '“strategic ideas” of how to best shovel snow, I find myself in thought, bouncing from new ways to age better and meditation by clearing my mind by focussing on the beauty of the white glistening snow.
And finally I am rewarded with a deep sense of satisfaction. The freshly shoveled driveway just looks so good. My friends from the south will just have to trust me on this one.
Maybe the most important emotion of the entire experience? I am grateful that I shoveled my snow. I don’t consider myself old, as most of us don’t regardless of our age. But I did it, the day after my 68th birthday(reminder I wrote this last year), and now I can enjoy the rest of my day. Maybe with a hot cup of matcha tea to warm up.
Enjoy your day.
Just a little extra-
Although I wrote this last year, I added it to the blog today, 2 days after returning from a brief trip to Sarasota. It was wonderful to feel the sun and warm temperatures in the month of February. Something we do not get in Michigan. I have already booked our February trip for next year. Going to Puerto Rico. It will be warm and sunny there. No snow shoveling, and I am good with that. There is more than one great pleasure in life.