Did you practice your "reasons" or did you practice Action?

Today, Valentine's day 2026 in the Quinte region, is 30 degrees Celcius WARMER than last weekend! WOW!

Did you get outside??

OR

Find a "reason" to NOT go outside??

Saturday afternoon, Feb 14, 2026

This has 100% been an "old school Canadian winter". That means it certainly hasn't been easy, whether you "like winter or not". With that comes times that are absolutely unsafe to be outside, without question.

Readers of the Zen Blog know that I am not one for "reasons" or "excuses" for NOT doing things that make us feel good (like fresh air and mother nature) just because the weather isn't "perfect". If you've followed along with my posts for a while, and have read some of those weather related thoughts, you'll also know that I FIRMLY believe that it doesn't have to do with the weather;

It has to do with OUR MINDSET and what we PRACTICE MOST. We our certainly our own worst enemy.

With that, I'll ask again;

Did you practice your "reasons" this weekend

OR did you practice action??

Today's afternoon walk was fantastic because it was the first time since this classic old Canadian winter took hold, that I could comfortably walk some of the quiet roads I enjoy walking, when I don't go into the woods.

One of the benefits of walking that we completely overlook is how it clears our heads from all the shit, noise, drama and daily goings on that we put our minds through without reprieve. That's not me saying it, that's science. Walking benefits our deep health, period. NOT just physical. ALL of it!

As I took some time to just look around on some of the stillness winter brings, I thought how beautiful today was. I wore my winter boots, thin toque, tshirt, hoodie, track pants (it was a great relaxing morning watching the olympics, so I just left them on for my walk - classy, I know), gloves and jacket. I honestly could've gotten away with just my hoodie and t-shirt, without the jacket. For three quarters of the walk my jacket was undone and my gloves were in my pockets.

Quite the switch from last weekend's weather eh?

Part way through my walk I got thinking about those of us who come up with every possible reason to NOT get outside for the better of our health and wellbeing. Be it for 10min or more. We find SOME reason to NOT get the health benefits of nature. To each their own. But as I've eluded to in the past, if you're one of "those folks", take note that you are most likely also someone who complains about EVERY SEASON and ALL WEATHER, minus the handful of days you MIGHT consider "perfect" out of the 365 per year. I got thinking, "What's the 'reason' today? It's 30 degrees WARMER than it was last weekend!!"

Weather feels WORSE when we DON'T experience even the SLIGHTEST of discomfort

Sitting in our temperature controlled, man made structures 24/7, makes us LESS RESILIENT, LESS CAPABLE to adapt to even minor discomfort and yes, I'm going to say it... WHINEY. VERY whiney.

YOU LIVE IN CANADA! 🇨🇦 GET OVER YOURSELF and

LET YOURSELF BE HEALTHIER and more RESILIENT.

OR... STOP complaining about your health.

Put your toque on, you hoser!

Great Canadian legends, and heroes of mine: Bob & Doug McKenzie 🥲

You DON'T need to go out in -30C weather. You can, but you certainly don't NEED to. However, too many of us have become so SHUT IN our temperature controlled environments that we don't even get out when it's NOT extreme!! (Speaking of extreme, if you didn't see a recent post, check it out to find a link to the "day in the life" in Yakutsk, Russia. THAT'S extreme.)

I'll say it again - We FEEL the cold (or heat) more harshley when we DON'T get outside into nature, where there is NO THERMOSTAT. We DON'T learn how to manage ANY length of time we need to be outside in various conditions. We DON'T have any practice as to what we'll experience and feel in various temperatures, because MOST days we spend in a completely static controlled environment.

I'm starting across the field into the hills (pic above), thinking to myself about my adventures last weekend winter camping, where it was 40 degrees Celcius colder than today's walk temperature is. That made me think back to the fact that we TRULY are the RESULTS OF OUR DAILY HABITS. When you don't even put yourself into MINOR discomfort situations, you have NO HOPE of learning to adapt or strengthen your resilience. Therefore, this has NOTHING to do with the season - it's our own MINDS holding us back!!

Don't believe me?

Modern knowledge, clothing and technology is beyond anything humans had before us. Yet we're truly SOFTER than ever when it comes to being a little uncomfortable. Think about it, we have HEATED VESTS, HEATED SOCKS, weather trackers on our devices that we carry with us at all times to monitor changing conditions.... You could even put on a heated vest to get yourself outside for just10 minutes and build up from there. And we STILL don't!

I think our anscestors are laughing at us for that one!

There's a couple farms on my usual route and I haven't actually been able to get to my friends this winter. Here's "Bernice" shocked to see me today. Silly, "Bernice"

It's a PATTERN. Not a weather pattern. Just a YOU pattern.

Discomfort avoidance most likely follows you in your lifestyle. In saying that, you most likely are struggling to find "something that works" for your health and wellbeing. Until you ACCEPT and begin to WORK WITH this fact, you will ALWAYS CONTINUE to struggle.

Whether it's mother nature, increased heart rate and breathing rate from exercise, feeling a "burn" in your muscles from pushing some weights around .... it's all discomfort and the more you PRACTICE completely AVOIDING it, the "better" you'll be at doing EXACTLY that.

Which brings me back around to my question of the day:

Did you practice your "reasons" this weekend

OR

did you practice action??

It's NOT the weather, no matter how much you tell yourself that. It's YOUR OWN MINDSET and regular PRACTICES that are HOLDING YOU BACK from cultivating the health and lifestyle YOU want.