Learning to accept what life hands us

Old man winter’s icy grip
refused to let us go.
We felt his cold unprecedented squeeze.
We shivered almost helplessly,
a victim of his grasp.
He held us hostage silencing our pleas.

He canceled flights (and classes, too)
disrupting our routines.
He ruthlessly attacked and claimed some lives.
Yes, old man winter showed his strength
as if we’d be impressed
while all we did was fight just to survive.

It’s humbling to realize
(in spite of pedigrees),
there are some things we simply can’t control.
And weather is one of those things.
It never takes a vote.
It trumps our wants and then it takes a toll.

At times like this we must accept
what can’t be dodged or changed
no matter how we’d like to run away.
But when we just embrace “what is”
and dance with it face-on,
we learn to waltz with hardship and to pray.