“Love keeps the cold out better than a cloak.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
There is temperate cold, which can bite and cut through the flesh and chill us to the bone. But this is merely physical. Our minds can counter this as well as our bodies, as shown by Tibetan monks meditating in the snow with no discomfort or Wim Hoff and his breathing methodologies in cold plunges.
More dangerous, more deadly over an extended period is the cold of the spirit, the bitter chill inside that freezes the spirit and soul. This is infinitely worse than the external ice because it is a cold that seeps into the very being and turns the heart into Siberia: a wasteland of desolation with no sun nor hope, dark and dangerous and seemingly endless.
Love warms.
Love lightens.
Love sparks a fire that generates internal heat and counters the cold outside.
Love makes even the darkest of nights bearable and blocks the howling winds.
Love is the blanket fort that keeps us cozy against all the world’s bitterness.
Wrap yourself in love and fear not the cold outside.