Winter is so hard, y’all. The biting wind. The never-warm enough coats. The constant chapped lips. I spent 8 years living down south, and the transition to a northeastern winter has been…bitter. In an effort to practice an #attitudeofgratitude, I have compiled a list of the positives of winter to focus and help me appreciate wintertime. I repeat these things in my head whenever I am running from my car into the nearest heated building, and it gets me through the season. I hope this list helps you learn how to survive winter, and appreciate it too.

How to survive winter

Here are the positives of winter to focus on during these cold months:

• Not shaving your legs: Winter means long pants (or leggings…or sweatpants) at all times. During the winter, no one has to see your legs other than you! Let that hair grow out with the excuse of needing it to keep you warm, and enjoy the luxury of not having to take the time to shave it. If your significant other shames you for it, simply tell them that if they don’t approve, they can’t touch. They’ll give in.
• Winter hats: Winter hats are soo cozy and soo cute. Every single person looks cute in a winter hat, as confirmed by eyeballs everywhere. As a bonus, winter hats allow you to skip styling or washing your hair because you can just cover your greasy rats nest with a hat. What could be better?
• Cuddles: Winter is perfect cuddle weather. During the summer time, your cuddling can get too hot or sweaty. But not in winter! Winter cuddling is an act of survival and you can never have too much of it.
• Eating a lot: You have to eat more in the winter. For hibernation purposes, and that’s just science. The good news is that bulky sweaters and jackets cover up any extra weight you put on from eating all of the comfort foods you need to get you through this trying time.
• Outfits don’t matter: There is no need to look cute when you are dressing yourself based off of pure survival instincts. The only fashion question to ask yourself in winter is, “Will this keep me warm enough?” Cute outfits are for summer – winter is a time of dressing to SURVIVE. Everyone is way too busy trying to keep warm themselves to bother looking at your outfit. We are all in this tundra hell together, and winter is an outfit judgment-free zone.
• Snow Days: There is just something magical about snow falling outside. Most importantly, if there is inclement weather, you might get the day off! Or at the very least you might get to work from the comfort of your couch. Snow days are precious little winter nuggets of joy that must be appreciated with the same enthusiasm you had for them when you were 8 years old.
• Heated Seats: Is there a greater luxury in this world than your tushie being warmed by a heated seat? I think not.
• Guilt-free indoor living: It is cold outside, so you need to be inside. Winter means not feeling guilty about sitting on your couch and watching 6 hours of Netflix in a row – you have nowhere else to go.
• Not being cold in the freezer section of the grocery store: In the summertime, you cannot enter a grocery store without complaining about how freezing cold it is for at least half of the duration of your shopping trip. In the winter, though, you’re all bundled up and ready to buy frozen dinners to your heart’s content.

I hope this list of the positives of winter help you learn how to survive winter! I personally am very excited that this list lets me check “gratitude” off of my prayer to-do list today. I’m even more excited for when it’s spring and I can actually feel real gratitude about the weather again, but I’ll take what I can get.