“Activity conquers cold, but stillness conquers heat.” – Lao Tzu

***

My mind wakes up first.  The ticker tape of to-dos float across it.  Activity conquers cold.

My heart wakes up second.  It races.  I inhale.  I exhale.  Stillness conquers heat.

My body wakes up third.  I move quickly.  I put on my training clothes.  I make coffee.   Activity conquers cold.

I train.  I sweat.  I rest.  Stillness conquers heat.

I prepare.  I cook. I plan.  Activity conquers cold.

I think.  I act.  I speak.   Activity conquers cold.  

My body stays warm.  My mind is on fire. Stillness conquers heat.

***

The tension between stillness and activity is a struggle when the temperature drops.  How do I still my mind and not my body?  How do I find warmth without overheating?  Can I still myself without getting swallowed by the depths of the winter blues?

***

“I said to my soul, be still and wait without hope, for hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love, for love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith, but the faith and the love are all in the waiting. Wait without thought, for you are not ready for thought: So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.”

-T.S. Eliot

***

And the stillness the dancing.  Stillness conquers the cold.

***

Trying to survive the February blues by getting my write on with writealm: